


Eagle-Eyes

by Romantic_Khajiit



Series: Eagle-Eyes [1]
Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Denial, F/M, Fluff, Heartbreak, Main character is a little slow to catch on..., Modern Girl in Skyrim, No Smut, Oblivious, Romance, Slow Build, Suggestive Themes, Unrequited Crush, Video Game Mechanics, Wedding Fluff, main character is not the dragonborn, skyrim fanfiction, unexpected love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:16:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 42,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24399373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Romantic_Khajiit/pseuds/Romantic_Khajiit
Summary: Another “modern girl ends up in Skyrim” story. I’ve read several of these over the years, some fantastic, some less so...Current world affairs being what they are, I stumbled on the inspiration to write one of my own.Katie Jones... one of the few modern, real world women who would probably actually survive if she were suddenly thrust into the world of Skyrim...With the exception of having a few video games, she hardly considers herself very modern actually...Life after college got surprisingly boring for a history major with no interest in teaching, but then when the whole world shuts down it actually got more boring... at first...(Y’all know the drill, this is fanfiction, so I don’t own portions of the setting or several of the characters.)
Relationships: Female Dovahkiin | Dragonborn/Farkas, Vilkas (Elder Scrolls)/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Eagle-Eyes [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1827730
Comments: 247
Kudos: 232





	1. Katie

"I'll be here my dear," Farkas's low voice said sweetly as she walked past.

"And I'll be back eventually," Katie sighed as she backed into her menus, saved her game, and turned off her system before removing her VR headset. She grumbled quietly to herself as she began to unplug and pack up her system. She was almost ready to go...

She looked down at her phone... she'd missed a call from her brother... she hit 'call back' and put him on speaker while she finished packing.

"Hello?"

"Hey Dave, sorry, I was on the VR," she said when she heard him pick up.

"Were you playing Skyrim again?" He asked in a teasing tone.

"Maybe..." she grumbled.

"You know Bethesda has made other games, right?"

"Yeah, and I'm not interested in your bottle cap fetish."

"Fair enough," David laughed.

"I was just finishing the last quest I was in the middle of and going home so I'm not super confused when I plug it back in next year..."

"Next year??"

"I mean, it's not like I'm going to have much in the way of electricity out at the house," Katie sighed.

"So you're actually going out there?"

"Yeah, packing now."

"You know mom and dad don't think we're going to be able to open up for tours this year..."

"I know," Katie said with another sigh, "but the diner is closed so I don't have rent for another month, and I've already told my landlord I'll be out by tomorrow."

"You know we could help you out if you need us to," David said seriously.

"I know," Katie said again, "and I appreciate it, but you and Mandy have enough on your plates. This way I can upkeep the frontier house, and no one needs to worry about me paying rent or eating up anyone's food."

"You gonna be able to work the garden enough to eat by yourself?"

"I should, especially if I'm just feeding me," she shrugged, "how many summers did we just survive off the summer garden without breaking character?"

"Too many," David chuckled. "I know you can last out there, it's just the alone part that worries me."

"That's kind of the state of the world these days," she grumbled, "probably make me less crazy than being alone in my apartment playing Skyrim..."

"Alright," David sighed, "just don't do anything stupid like try to go bow hunting alone, ok?"

"Come on, what makes you think I'd do something like that?"

"The 26 years I've known you," David replied flatly.

"Fair enough," Katie grumbled. "Alright, if I get low on food I'll go fishing not hunting. There should be enough non-perishables at the lodge to last me a good while anyway."

"Ok, just... please be careful."

"I will, and I'll hike up to the lodge to call and check in once a week."

"And make sure you also start your car once a week so you'll be able to get out there if you need to, and keep the emergency phone charged," David added seriously.

"Dave, I'll be fine," Katie said a little exasperatedly, "I know what I'm doing."

"And don't go on random hikes in the backwoods, or—"

"Dave," she interrupted, "I've literally already gotten this same lecture from Mom, and Dad, and Pawpaw."

"Alright, alright," David sighed, "when are you leaving?"

"As soon as I get off the phone and load up the last of my things."

"Ok, drive safe."

"I will, give my love to Mandy and the kids."

"I will. See you in a few months I guess."

"Yeah, see you later."

Katie sighed in relief when he hung up. She loved her brother, but sometimes he was more of a worrier than their mother. He was about a year and half younger than she was, and they'd grown up very close. Sometimes he acted more like an older brother than a younger brother... especially now that he had kids of his own.

Katie finally got the last of her things into the car, did a final sweep of her apartment, dropped off her keys in her landlord's office mailbox, and she was on the road.  
  
  


***

She arrived at the sprawling plot of her family's mountain reserve just before sundown. Her dad had grown up on the plot of land they'd inherited from his great grandfather. Then he met her mom at Philmont Scout Ranch, and the two decided to turn the land into a frontier reenactment site instead of simply a hunting reserve. From the time she was twelve Katie had been able to work the garden and make her own clothes. She learned to work the forge when she was fifteen. Since graduating high school and all through college she had gone back to work there in the summers. Most recently she had considered going back to college for her masters degree, but the pandemic had everything on hold.

She figured staying at the frontier house would be an easy way to just stay out of contact with everyone and not wrack up more debt.

The lodge was the only building on the property with electricity running to it and road access. It was also the only one with particularly modern amenities.

Katie did a general check of the building to make sure nothing looked amiss before she flipped the breaker and got the lights on so she could unload her car. Then she got ready for bed, checked her bed for scorpions, made sure she had her flashlights handy, and went to bed.

The next morning she got up and the real work began. She packed her things for living in the back country and a few days worth of food, changed into the simple reenactment garments she'd made years ago, and hiked down to the frontier house. The frontier house had enough food stored in the pantry to feed a family of four for a few weeks, so she knew she'd be fine if it took her a month or so to get anything, out of the garden... and she could always go fishing.

The frontier house was a simple construction, period accurate log cabin, about a mile hike from the lodge. Her parents had been there at least relatively recently to clean the place up from winter, back when they still thought they'd be open for tourists that summer. So Katie had less work to do inside than she'd been expecting. She spent the whole day working on getting the summer garden ready, and by dark she was exhausted and starting to think she'd overdone it at that elevation...  
  
  


***  
  


Katie was woken in the middle of the night by a pair of gruff voices and immediately sat bolt upright in bed, reaching for the shotgun beside her bed.

"Ah ah, lass, none of that," a male voice scolded and a cold, sharp blade tip pressed gently against her collarbone. Katie froze, staring back at a man dressed in red leather armor, holding a torch in one hand and a short sword in the other. She blinked... he looked like an imperial soldier from Skyrim...

"Bit of a pretty thing..." the man called over his shoulder to what looked to be another soldier, "what do you think?"

...Katie didn't like the grin on his face...

"Gods you idiot, do you always think with your cock?" The other man groaned, stepping into view. "She's literally sleeping in Stormcloak blue. She's a traitor."

Stormcloak...???

A fever dream... she must have really over done it and now she was having a fever dream from elevation sickness or something...

"Thought you were settin' up a safe house for your so-called High King didn't you?" The other man sneered. "Well I got news for you, Ulfric's set to be executed when we reach Helgen tomorrow. Your little rebellion is dead."

"I... I have no idea what you're talking about," Katie tried to speak firmly, but her racing pulse made her voice tremble... she was either having a very vivid fever dream or a pair of lunatics in Skyrim cosplay had broken into her house, and there were no other people around for miles...

She jumped back and lunged for her shotgun, but something hard connected with the back of her skull and everything went black.

When the world began to blearily come back into view, she had a splitting headache. Her hands were tied in front of her... she was being jostled about on a wooden seat in the back of a horse drawn wagon, wedged between a large man, and a small woman.

Katie blinked as she looked around. Yep. This was Skyrim... she was on the back of the prison wagon from the opening credits of the game... Ulfric was the large man beside her... Ralof was sitting across from them... but she didn't know the woman next to her... she was unconscious, tied just like Katie was... she was short, with a thin frame, and she had tan, lightly freckled skin, and fiery red hair... Katie swore quietly... she did recognize her. This was the Dragonborn she'd played as in her last game...

"Alright kinsmen?" Ralof asked looking up at her with a sympathetic smile.

"Uh... yeah," she grumbled as she shook her head. This was one vivid fever dream... she was starting to worry she wasn't going to wake up...

"We heard them say you were trying to set up a safe house for us," Ralof continued, "if that's true, you have our thanks, and I'm sorry you got caught up in this," he added with a sigh.

Ulfric grunted in agreement beside her and she turned to look at him... she didn't see any point in correcting them, the imperials wouldn't listen, she may as well let Ulfric think she was on his side.

"Of course," she nodded. Ulfric met her eyes with a sincere expression. Katie gave him another nod, slightly awkwardly before the wagon jostled again.

"The Breton was trying to cross the border near our camp," Ralof added, nodding to the woman who was leaning on Katie's shoulder, "she stumbled straight into the imperial ambush right along with us."

Ulfric made another irritated grumble sound in his chest and Katie just nodded again...

She did remember her last character had been a Breton... a mage... she wondered what she would be assumed to be...

Katie had dark blond hair (the color of dead grass, she often called it) that she usually just braided or put in a ponytail... fair, pinkish skin that quickly sunburned when she was outside too long without sunscreen or a hat... and grey-blue eyes...

Then she remembered that Ralof had called her 'kinsmen'... so she was a Nord then... that probably made the most sense... she'd always had too stocky a build to be pretty and dainty, and she preferred activities that tended to build muscle tone anyway... like hiking for miles and miles, or working the forge at the re-enactment site... or even bow hunting... her hunting bow had a pretty hefty draw weight...

About an hour after Katie woke, the woman beside her began to stir. As Katie had expected, she looked bewilderedly around with bright, emerald green eyes.

"You, you're finally awake," Ralof greeted...

Katie listened, feeling a strong sense of déjà vu as Ralof talked and the horse thief chimed in...

Katie focused on taking in the details you couldn't get from playing the game... like the feel and smell of the wind through the evergreen trees... Skyrim really was a beautiful place... if you could ignore the smell of the horses and sweaty men of course...

The air was warm, but there was a crispness in the breeze that hinted autumn was not far off. It was a shame she was so uncomfortable on the hard wooden bench seat...

Soon they were approaching Helgen and everything played out exactly as Katie expected.

Hadvar called each prisoner off the cart, and when he saw her and the Dragonborn left in the cart, he looked in confusion between the two of them...

"Who are you?"

"Summer Lightning-blade," the Breton woman stepped forward. So it really was exactly the Dragonborn she'd created, Katie thought... she'd have to introduce her self as something too... she supposed she could be something more interesting than Kaitlyn Jones... she didn't really want a name she wouldn't be used to answering to though... she quickly thought back to nicknames and fake titles she'd earned over the years... of them all Eagle-eye was her favorite... she'd got that one back on the college archery team... maybe she should go with a more modest one... she'd picked up several around the frontier house... Red Hammer... no... Anvil Breaker... that was worse...

And then Hadvar was staring at her and she was out of time to debate.

"Katie Eagle-Eyes," she tried to say it as confidently as Summer had been, but she was honestly a little embarrassed. She watched as Hadvar wrote 'Cadie Eagle-Eyes'... she supposed that worked.

"I'm sorry you got mixed up in all this, kinsmen," Hadvar apologized as she stepped off the cart.

She heard the distant roar she knew was Alduin and she looked to the sky... she intentionally didn't watch as the horse thief tried to run... and she kept staring at the sky as the first Stormcloak went to the block...

She saw the dragon flying over the distant mountains several moments before anyone else noticed...

Summer was next to the block, but as Katie expected the axe never fell.

Alduin landed on the roof of the tower behind them and rocks rained from the sky. Katie had to jump out of the way as the chaos erupted all around them. She ran to Summer's side... Summer was going to make it through this... so her best bet was to stick close to her...


	2. Harsh Reality

Summer seemed just as happy as Katie was to stick together, as they followed Ralof into the keep. They both got their bindings cut and found some armor to get into. Summer seemed uncomfortable with the armor, but they didn't have better options.

Unsurprisingly, the process of pulling armor off of a dead body and then putting it on was a lot more difficult and traumatizing than it ever seemed in the video game.

To Ralof's dismay, Summer was utterly useless with a sword. She'd dropped it in favor of casting destruction spells the moment the imperial soldiers rushed at them. Katie had taken one fencing lesson in her life, and several selfdefense classes, so she ended up grabbing the sword.

Katie had been what was probably unnaturally calm all morning, until the imperials attacked... until she actually had to defend herself with a heavy iron sword...

Katie had never killed anyone before... the instructors in the selfdefense classes frequently talked about what might be required in a selfdefense situation, and Katie thought she was mentally prepared for the possibility of killing in selfdefense, but she definitely wasn't.

The man hadn't given her much choice, it was either her or him, and fortunately the man was so shaken up by the dragon that he'd made a foolish mistake... Katie knew she was lucky to have gotten an opening... but the sound of bones breaking and the smell of all the blood pouring from his chest as she ran her sword through him made her sick to her stomach.

She was grateful that Ralof dealt with most of them.

Once the imperials had all been dealt with, Katie leaned against the wall and dry heaved several times.

"Hunting," she told herself, "think of it like a hunting trip... it's just like killing an animal that was going to kill me..." she panted, "and besides, none of this is real... I'm having a fever dream... I overdid it in the garden and now I'm in a fantasy, having a fever dream..."

"If this is a fantasy, I'd hate to see your nightmares," Ralof grumbled, calling Katie's attention to the fact she'd been speaking out loud.

"Sorry," Katie said in embarrassment, "I just..."

"First time spilling blood?" Ralof guessed sympathetically.

"Of a person, yes," Katie sighed.

Summer put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I've only ever killed in selfdefense," she said understandingly, "but it doesn't make it easier."

Katie just shook her head in agreement.

"I know this is difficult," Ralof spoke up, "but we really need to get out of here."

Katie nodded and she and Summer followed him down the hall.

As they continued, Summer continued to handle everything with destruction magic, while Katie tried to keep up with the sword. It might have been a good thing she hadn't gotten anything to eat since the night before because she was absolutely sick from all the blood.

By the time they made it to the caves and spotted the bear that Katie had been expecting, Ralof looked pretty skeptical when he offered Summer the bow. He wasn't the least bit surprised when she turned it down, but Katie was eager to get her hands on a weapon that she was more comfortable with so she'd volunteered to take it.

Ralof's bow was much simpler and lighter than the bow she was used to hunting with, but she was at least still a good shot. Her first arrow missed completely, but she quickly corrected with her second and the bear was dead with a single arrow through its eye and into its skull.

"At least I see why you called yourself Eagle-eyes," Ralof commented as the bear dropped. "Still can't figure out 'Lightning-blade' here..."

"Lightning _is_ my blade," Summer grumbled in exasperation.

"I mean, I thought that was obvious," Katie shrugged, which made Summer grin as she looked over the dead bear.

Summer used a spell to collect the pelt in a matter of seconds and Ralof was relieved they could keep going.

Katie was relieved there was a small stream flowing through the cave and she could wash off some of the blood. It was an even bigger relief to see the light of day and Alduin flying off into the distance.

Katie almost suggested they leave Ralof behind, but she decided they should stick with him, just in case something wasn't identical to the game she knew so well. When they reached the standing stones Summer chose the mage stone...

Katie considered... she so far had no indication that she could do anything she couldn't do before being woken up here, so magic was probably out... actually so was stealth honesty... oh who was she kidding?

Katie walked carefully up and chose the warrior stone. The rush of warmth through her body was a little startling as the stone lit up, but it was also comforting. Ralof approved of her decision with a little bit of a snide comment at Summer.

"I'm not sure he likes me," Summer whispered to Katie as they continued down the path.

"Ignore him," Katie replied quietly with a reassuring smile. Summer grinned again.

"So I take it you're not a Nord who hates magic then?" She asked hopefully.

"Not in the slightest," Katie shook her head. "The only thing I have against magic is that I apparently can't do it."

"Ooh, maybe I can teach you!" Summer offered excitedly. "...as soon as I learn it a bit better myself that is..." she added sheepishly. "Just between you and me, 'Lightning-blade' was my father's name. I intend to live up to it, but I'm... uh... just not quite there yet."

"You'll get there," Katie shrugged, confidently patting the girl on the back.

Katie and Summer conversed comfortably as they continued down the trail. Katie was starting to suspect this wasn't just a dream... it was way too real, even for a fever dream.

But talking with Summer was still a bit of a surreal experience. She didn't know she was the Dragonborn yet... Katie thought it was interesting how the minor bits of a backstory she'd imagined up while playing were all there and all true... her personality was interesting... she seemed very similar to a happier, more confident version of Katie... which, Katie supposed, also made perfect sense... but she was definitely her own unique person... Katie couldn't have explained it if she tried.

By the time they reached Riverwood, Katie felt like she'd been reconnecting with a long lost friend.

Ralof's sister was just as kind and hospitable as she always was in the game, and Katie and Summer were both relieved to get washed up and finally get some food. Gerder's clothes were a bit big on Summer, but they were better than the rags she'd been in when she escaped the imperials. She'd come to Skyrim to seek adventure and improve her skills. She was still pretty mad about the loss of all of her gear, especially her magic robes.

Katie was glad she hadn't been wearing anything of interest when the soldiers had found her. She wouldn't have minded one of Gerder's dresses, but her own pants and shirt were much more comfortable.

The next morning Katie took their salvaged armor down to the river to wash it out while Summer went to see if there was anything she could afford at the trader's.

Katie had gotten a Stormcloak curiass that mostly fit, and with the soap Gerder had given her, she hoped she'd be able to get it smelling better... the edges of the blue fabric were singed from the dragon fire, and she knew there was no way she'd get the burned smell out, but at least she got the blood out. Summer's curiass was less burned, but it had more blood on the leather and was much harder to clean. Katie didn't expect Summer would want to put it back on anyway. Once she got the curiasses serviceable she cleaned up the bracers and leg greaves she'd pulled off of one of the imperial women, she was glad her own boots were still holding up. She debated if she should bother with a helmet, but the thing smelled as bad as the rest of the armor and restricted her vision, so she'd left it behind. She hoped that wouldn't come back to bite her...

Summer came back not long later in the most simple mages' robes, but looking much more comfortable.

"So, I managed to sell the bear pelt and those weapons we picked up and didn't want," Summer began with a cheerful smile, "I got you some more arrows." She handed Katie a quiver full of steel-tipped arrows.

"Oh, thank you!" Katie said in surprise, it looked like there were about twenty arrows... "these 'll be useful."

"Yeah, so..." Summer began a little nervously, "apparently some bandits robbed the trader's... he's offering a reward if anyone can return the thing they took..."

Katie just listened hopefully... of course she knew what quest this was...

"I was thinking, between my lightning and your shooting, we can probably handle a few bandits?"

"Probably," Katie nodded, trying not to sound too eager. She'd been starting to worry she was just going to be left behind like an NPC. "Where are we headed?" She asked, even though she already knew.

"The shopkeepers think the bandits are up in Bleakfalls Barrow, that old ruin Ralof pointed out yesterday."

"Ok," Katie nodded. She wasn't looking forward to having to kill more people... but that was the way of Skyrim... at least she should be able to handle it from a distance now.

***

Just like everything else, Bleakfalls Barrow had been mostly what Katie was expecting... mostly. Killing bandits wasn't easy and still didn't sit right with her, but it was much easier with her bow; from a distance she didn't have to smell their blood or hear their dying breath... but she still had to retrieve her arrows, and check for any useful loot.

Draugr were much easier to deal with, she didn't feel any remorse returning them to their deaths. Retrieving arrows was a little less gross as well... or at least less messy...

The frostbite spiders were a bit more terrifying than they were in game... Katie had never been afraid of spiders, she and her brother had had a pet tarantula as kids... but these things weren't tarantulas... Katie was pretty sure they weren't even actually spiders... more like horrible abominations related to a camel spider or an Arizona sun spider...

At least they were large targets.

The surprising thing for Katie was that she actually found a bow, much nicer than one the game would have probably given her at this point... an orcish recurve bow... it was much closer to the draw weight of the bow she hunted with, and it was smaller and more maneuverable than Ralof's longbow. She liked it... and it came in very handy against the more powerful draugr that rose from his sarcophagus once Summer found the word wall.

Summer was of course absolutely fascinated by the word wall. She went back to trying to read and make sense of it after the draugr was dead again. Katie sifted through the sarcophagus to find the dragon stone tablet...

Summer was excited to bring it with them as she noticed it had the same writings on it as the wall. Katie just wondered how much she should tell her friend... she still didn't have a clue she was the Dragonborn yet...

They got back to town that evening, just in time to have dinner with Ralof and his family. They promised Gerder they'd go to Whiterun first thing in the morning to report to the Jarl.

They stopped in at the Riverwood Trader the next morning and collected their reward. To Katie's relief, Summer suggested they then stop at Alvar's to get her some armor that wouldn't look like they were taking sides in the war.

Luckily, and a little surprisingly, Katie's figure wasn't too far off from a typical Nord woman's and Alvar had some leather armor in stock that only needed minor fitting adjustments. The leather armor also had, the enchanted gear pockets that could carry much more than they looked like they could. Katie was excited by that... it was the first bit of anything actually magical she'd gotten. Her entire quiver of arrows and her bow fit in the pockets... it was rather amazing... it was exactly the way pretty much everyone in the video game functioned, so it made sense that the enchanted pockets were just a standard feature on her plain leather armor, but Katie was still fascinated. She experimentally pulled her bow out and put it back a few times just to make sure she could do it quickly. Summer just watched, appearing to be trying not to laugh at her.

Finally, Katie was comfortable. She hung her sword on her belt and they were ready to go.

After leaving Riverwood they made pretty good time down the familiar road toward Whiterun. The weather was lovely... sunny, warm, but not uncomfortably hot, with a gentle breeze blowing.

Katie was a bit excited as they approached Whiterun... in most of her last Skyrim play-throughs she'd befriended Farkas by dropping either a nice weapon or piece of armor, and then telling him he could have it when he asked. In the game mechanics that made him available as a follower, and therefore also available as a marriage candidate. He was easily Katie's biggest fictional crush... and now, if events continued to follow the course of the game like they had so far, they'd be finding Farkas, Aela, and Ria fighting a giant as they came over this hill.

"Get ready," Katie said quietly to Summer, trying to hide her excitement, "I think I hear a giant over this hill... it sounds angry."

"I don't hear anything, but alright," Summer nodded as she activated her lightning spells. Katie readied her bow and they both hurried carefully up and over the hill.

There was the giant, smashing through the crops of Pelagia farm, trying to smash that hulking tower of Nord muscle... Katie took aim with her bow and fired as Summer rushed forward, launching sparks into the giant's back. Katie only had time to get one shot off before the giant fell, but she knew her one arrow had been helpful, she'd hit it right in the eye. She hurried forward, excited to meet the Companions...

Aela was commending Summer for her help, Katie was wondering if anyone had even noticed she'd shot the giant too...

But then Katie's breath caught in her throat as her eyes found Farkas... he was real and standing in front of her... not a video game rendering on her screen, but an actual person, standing a whole head taller than her with beautiful silvery blue eyes, long, shaggy brown hair, a stubble beard, and stunningly huge defined muscles. He was covered in sweat and giant blood... staring in open-mouthed amazement... at Summer.

Katie's heart suddenly dropped as the realization hit her... in her last game... it was the Dragonborn who married Farkas... which meant Summer was the one who had won his attention now... not her...

Katie felt like her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach as the awful realization sank in... she was stuck in a fever dream of her favorite video game... and her favorite video game husband was going to fall in love with her character... not her...

Even in her dreams she seemed doomed to be alone...


	3. The Dragonborn

It was the first thing Katie had seen that seemed to actually deviate from the video game... Summer didn't have to do anything strange like drop a nice weapon at Farkas's feet. He just curiously started talking to her. Summer introduced herself and then introduced Katie as "my friend, Eagle-eyes."

Katie still had her bow in hand, and despite knowing she had no chance with him, her heart began to race as he looked over to her. She nodded politely, not trusting her voice to not make her sound like an idiot.

"So you're the one who shot it," he commented with a smile.

"From all the way back there!" Summer added pointing up the hill. Katie blushed a little as Farkas turned to see where Summer was pointing.

"Wow..." Farkas nodded. "You two should come to Jorrvaskr and be Companions," he grinned.

Katie smiled. She could at least appreciate that she'd gotten a genuine compliment from him... and actually even from Summer too...

Farkas stayed with them as they made their way to the Whiterun gates. Katie just listened as he and Summer talked. He told Summer about how the Companions are his family, and welcome anyone with the heart of a warrior.

Katie thought Summer really wasn't the type to actually join the Companions, but she realized she might be... she couldn't do any magic, she was pretty good with a bow, and she wasn't awful with the sword... at least good enough to have survived Helgen.

Then Summer told Farkas about how she and Katie he escaped Helgen. Farkas was amazed.

"A real dragon?" He asked in awe.

"A real dragon," Summer nodded, "that's why we're coming to see the Jarl," she explained, but then they were stopped by the guards at the gate.

To Katie's surprise, Farkas followed them as they went to meet Jarl Balgruuf. To Summer's surprise they then got to bring the dragon stone tablet to the Jarl's mage and tell him about the dragons.

Then, as Katie had expected, several minutes later, the Jarl's housecarl rushed in to summon them and the mage to discuss the dragon that was seen at the western watchtower.

Katie was a little surprised that Farkas still followed them, but what surprised her most was that once everyone began organizing to go face the dragon, he looked to Summer and said, "hold on, I know where we can get more help," and then ran off to Jorrvaskr, running around the back of the building. Katie heard him excitedly yell:

"Hey, you three, come help me fight a dragon!"

Only moments later he ran back around the other side, and ran back to join them. Several moments after that Vilkas ran around the side of the building, looking bewildered before following Farkas down to join them in the street, followed moments later by Aela and Skjor.

"What in Oblivion are you on about brother?" Vilkas demanded.

"You're still following those two?" Aela asked only moments later.

Farkas just grinned back at them and shrugged, "if there's no dragon I owe you all a drink, if there is, you all owe me one!"

Vilkas shook his head skeptically, but Skjor laughed.

"Well if the icebrain wants to buy drinks, let's go see this..." Skjor paused mid-sentence as they all heard the distant roar, "...dragon."

Katie tried not to laugh at the look of shock on the three Companions' faces contrasted by Farkas's smug smirk.

Then Farkas looked at Aela and shrugged, "these two escaped the attack at Helgen."

"Are the rumors true then?" Vilkas asked in surprise looking from Katie to Summer and back again.

"I don't know what the rumors are," Summer shrugged, "but basically, the imperials were about to execute Ulfric Stormcloak and then a dragon shower up and sacked the whole town."

"By Ysmir..." Vilkas muttered under his breath.

Then the Jarl's housecarl finished her speech to the Jarl's men and they began to head out toward the watchtower, and Katie, Summer, and the four Companions followed.

The watchtower was in ruins when they arrived. Katie got her bow out and nocked an arrow, watching the skies carefully. She was partly excited, partly terrified. She loved going bow hunting in the woods on her parents' property, but this would definitely be much more intense and dangerous than running into a bear or mountain lion while trying to shoot a deer...

The Companions readied their weapons as well, and then the dragon flew into view.

"By Ysmir..."  
Katie heard Vilkas swear as he pulled his bow out instead of his great sword.

"Eagle-eyes," Summer yelled, "is that the same dragon that sacked Helgen?"

"Nope," Katie replied as she took aim. Several of the Jarl's men panicked and scattered as it approached. Katie let her arrow loose and then dove out of the way as the dragon breathed fire as it passed. She wasn't sure if her arrow did any damage as it disappeared into to the dragon's open mouth, but she got quickly to her feet and readied her next arrow.

She couldn't keep track of where Summer or any of the Companions went as she dodged the fire and continued to shoot arrows at the dragon... she knew they needed the dragon on the ground so the non-ranged fighters could get to it... Finally, Katie found a good vantage point up on top of one of the standing pieces of the watchtower... she took aim... and... fired.

The arrow flew and lodged into the dragons shoulder just under the wing. The dragon roared and flailed before crashing into the ground.

Katie caught her breath... this was much more intense than hunting turkey or deer...

She watched as the Companions ran forward to assault the dragon on all sides... several of the Jarl's men finally joined them, and then Summer leapt onto its head, holding onto one horn with one hand and blasting lightning into the top of its skull.

Everyone but Katie stared in awe as the dragon died. Katie's attention was drawn to Farkas... he was uninjured, pulling his huge sword from the dead dragon, and grinning up at Summer. Katie's heart dropped again as she watched Summer smile back at him... then she jumped off the dragon's head and Farkas caught her. As soon as he put her down the dragon's body began to tremble. Everyone jumped as the dragon's scales and flesh began to disintegrate and the power flew into Summer.

Katie just sat down to catch her breath and let her adrenaline dissipate while she waited for everyone to finish gawking at Summer.  
  
  


***

The four Companions followed as Summer headed back to report to the Jarl. Katie trailed behind, now that her adrenaline rush had worn off she was exhausted. She hated the way no one seemed to have even noticed she'd helped... but then she wasn't the Dragonborn. Vilkas was the only one who periodically looked back at her... with his grumpy furrowed brow... he was probably judging her for being so worn out when she hadn't been doing any of the close combat. She was tempted to snap at him... to point out that she had actually been doing a lot of running around in that fight... but she decided against it. She wasn't really interested in initiating a conversation, or an argument, with the grumpier twin.

When playing the video game, Katie had never liked Vilkas very much, he was one of many reasons she usually didn't do more of the Companions' questline than she needed to to get Farkas as a follower... she always hated how grumpy and condescending he seemed... with dialogue that insulted and underestimated the Dragonborn, insulted Farkas's intelligence, and claimed he only fought for the 'promise of coin'... he was a complete contrast to Farkas's friendliness...

So Katie chose to ignore them all for the time being, trying to think of how she was going to fit in... in her game with Summer, she'd taken Farkas with her from this point on... which probably meant she was going to either be left behind, or she was going to be a third wheel. She wasn't sure she liked either of those options, but she wasn't sure how delicate the timeline was... things had already begun to deviate from the game plot, and if Katie wasn't going to wake up, she needed to make sure she didn't interfere in a way that could prevent Summer from defeating Alduin.

Katie was pulled from her thoughts, just before they made it back to Whiterun, by the thundering call summoning the Dragonborn to High Hrothgar. Everyone jumped, even Katie.

"What the...?" Farkas asked quietly as the four Companions turned to look up at the mountain behind them. Katie just caught up with Summer who was looking around with wide eyes.

"Come on," she said quietly, "let's get back to the Jarl."

"Yeah," Summer grumbled, "this is shaping up to be a crazy week."

They hurried back into town and Katie noticed the four Companions followed them at first, but didn't continue into Dragonsreach. When they got back out, Farkas was the only one waiting for them.

"You're goin' up the mountain next, yeah?"

"We are, you wanna come with us?" Summer asked excitedly.

Farkas's happy grin made Katie's heart flutter... and then ache...

They got dinner at the Bannered Mare and Katie just listened while Farkas and Summer talked and laughed as they exchanged stories. Katie couldn't get a word in, but then she didn't really try that hard. She just sat back and listened to them, trying not to feel sad as she enjoyed Farkas's stories. She particularly enjoyed hearing about the time he'd pulled a prank on Vilkas by greasing the hilt of his training sword.

Then, after what Katie had to admit was an enjoyable evening, they agreed to meet at the stables in the morning and Farkas took his leave. Katie distinctly noticed the way Summer watched Farkas leave as he made his way to the door, and she blushed when he looked back over his shoulder and smiled at her before he disappeared out the door.

"Divines help me, that is an attractive man," Summer sighed and leaned back in her chair.

"Mmhmm," Katie agreed, trying not to feel jealous.

"Do you think a Companion would ever fall for a mage like me?" She asked a little wistfully.

"I think he's well on his way if he hasn't already," Katie replied. She didn't mean to, but it came out as a bit of a grumble, fortunately, Summer didn't seem to catch it.

"You think so?" She asked excitedly.

"Yeah," Katie nodded, "he was hanging on your every word."

"Oh... I hope you're right!" Summer said with a happy sigh.

Katie couldn't bring herself to be upset. Summer reminded of her best friend, Mandy, back in high school, when she'd first admitted she had a crush on Katie's brother. It was cute honestly.

The next morning Farkas was waiting for them at the stables with a huge grin on his face. Katie's heart lurched... how the heck was she going to get over him if she had to keep seeing that gorgeous smile of his?

Being left behind might be better than being the third wheel...

"Three horses, rented for the week," he grinned as they approached, gesturing to the three huge animals beside him, each saddled and ready to go.

"Farkas," Summer grinned excitedly, "you didn't have to do that!"

"I know," he shrugged, "I wanted to."

"Well then I'm buying dinner," Summer decided.

"Which means I get lunch," Katie volunteered with a smile as Farkas handed her the reins of one of the horses.

All three horses were very dark in coloration with black manes and tails. The one Farkas rented for Katie was a mare with a long white streak down her forehead and otherwise entirely black. Summer's was also a mare, with a white spot on her forehead and her coat looked more very dark brown than black. Farkas's horse was a solid black stallion, slightly larger than the two mares. Katie tried not to think about how appropriate that was... obviously Farkas was probably double their weight, so he should definitely have the bigger horse...

Their entire trip was almost bog-standard out of the video game... Katie had a little trouble getting comfortable on her horse... not because the horse was trouble or that she didn't know how to ride, she'd done a lot of riding and was usually very comfortable on a horse... she'd never ridden a horse this big. These things were the size of Clydesdales...

Katie was sore by the time they stopped in Riverwood for an early lunch. She was even more sore when they reached Ivrastead in time for a late dinner.

Katie suspected Farkas might have gotten the cheaper deal by renting the horses instead of buying the food... good grief that man could eat... not that that was very surprising either of course.

The next morning Katie found Summer and Farkas out by the bridge talking...

"I don't know how to explain it," Summer was saying, "this one just came naturally to me as a kid..." she was showing Farkas a small flame in the palm of her hand, and Farkas was just staring at it in fascination.

"It doesn't burn you?" He asked.

"No," Summer shook her head, "it's just warm, like a living thing almost."

"Would it burn me?" He held his hand out uncertainly, like he wanted to touch the small flame, but was understandably apprehensive.

"Only if I wanted it to," Summer giggled. She took his hand and gently brought it up to her other hand, and then slowly cupped her hands around his, letting him hold the small fire.

Farkas just stared in amazement, like he didn't dare move. "Vilkas says magic is wrong and dishonorable... destructive... I've always listened to him, but... you... you're none of those things..."

"I'm glad you don't think so," Summer smiled.

"No, I've never trusted mages, but you I like," Farkas smiled too.

"I mean, don't get me wrong," Summer added with a smirk, "I could destroy a lot of things with this," she gestured at the small flame held between them, "but it doesn't have to be destructive... I know healing spells too."

"What about the ones that raise and control dead things?" Farkas asked, his brows furrowing uncomfortably.

"Oh I don't know any of those," Summer shook her head, "those are black magics, I refuse to learn those. I fight with my own power, I don't raise things to fight for me."

Farkas grinned at that. "You've got the skills of a mage, but the heart of a warrior..."

"You think so?" Summer blushed.

"Mmhmm," Farkas nodded, "I like it."

Katie turned and slunk back to the inn. She didn't feel right to eavesdrop anymore. She bought herself a sweet roll... she needed something to make her feel better. To her delight the things really were as good as she'd imagined them... like a cinnamon roll with cream cheese icing...

She was almost finished when Summer and Farkas came back.

"Oh good, you're up," Summer smiled upon seeing Katie sitting at the bar, "ready to go?"

Katie popped the last bit of her pasty into her mouth before standing up with a nod.

"Great, come on," Summer said excitedly, "we found the trail that goes up the mountain!"

They made it up the seven thousand steps. Katie was rather proud of how helpful she'd been against the frost troll that tried to ambush them. Farkas had gotten the final blow with his great sword, but swore he wouldn't have been able to if it hadn't been for Summer's spells and Katie's arrows.

High Hrothgar was also exactly what Katie had been expecting, and since she wasn't the one learning to shout, it was honestly really boring. She actually dozed off in a chair in the main chamber. The climb and the altitude were exhausting.

She blushed profusely when Farkas nudged her awake when it was time to go.

Summer bid a respectful farewell to the Greybeards, and they were all three on their way out the door when Master Arngier stopped them.

"One more thing, Dragonborn," he said, looking from Katie to Farkas and then back to Summer, "this is meant to be your final test. You may bring _one_ companion, but no more."

"Oh," Summer said uncomfortably. She looked from Katie to Farkas unhappily before turning back to Arngeir, "I understand, master."

"Good," he nodded, "return to us when you have retrieved the horn of Juergen Windcaller. Sky guard you."

"So, uh..." Farkas began sadly once they got back to Irvrastead, "guess I'll be at Jorrvaskr if you need me..."

"No," Katie sighed, she didn't want to mess up what was supposed to happen... she'd already been braced for this, and at least they weren't _wanting_ to get rid of her. "You two go get that horn. Farkas is much better in a fight than I am."

"What'll you do though?" Summer asked in concern.

"I have no idea," Katie sighed... she could probably go somewhere random and just try to set up a homestead for herself... or go take up residence in one of those hunting cabins that were strewn about Skyrim...

"You should go to Jorrvaskr," Farkas said seriously, "you'd be a good Companion."

"You think so?" Katie asked, looking up at him a little surprised. She wasn't sure she wanted to deal with the Companions if Farkas wasn't there... but...

"Yeah," he nodded with a confident smile, "and you can tell 'em I sent you."

"Alright," Katie sighed, "I guess I'll be at Jorrvaskr then..."  
  



	4. Joining the Conpanions

Katie bid Summer and Farkas farewell, and then managed to ride back to Riverwood by dark. She visited the trader to pick up a few more general necessities, like sleeping clothes, more arrows, and a tent and bedroll, just in case. Then she stayed the night at the Sleeping Giant Inn and set off for Whiterun the next morning.

When Katie walked into Jorrvaskr a couple hours before lunch time, she was immediately struck with the smell of the hearth, cooking meats and bread, and mead and ale. It was a much warmer and more welcoming atmosphere than she'd been expecting.

Vilkas was on his way upstairs and stopped and did a double-take upon seeing her.

"Did you just wander in?" He asked sounding a little surprised.

"Basically," she shrugged, she was a bit taken aback that he wasn't sitting downstairs grumpily talking to Kodlak... "Farkas said I should come see about joining," she explained, preparing for him to try and get rid of her...

"Did he now?" Vilkas raised his eyebrow as he seemed to examine her critically, "you were with the Dragonborn, right? The other day when we fought the dragon?"

"I... uh, yes..." Katie said in surprise. She didn't think he'd have payed enough attention to her to recognize or remember her.

"So I take it my brother is still helping the Dragonborn?"

"Yeah," Katie nodded, trying not to sound dejected, "the Greybeards want Summer to retrieve an artifact as a test, and she's only allowed to bring one person for backup, so..." Katie shrugged, "here I am."

"So Farkas is getting on alright then?" Vilkas asked. Katie was surprised; she could tell he'd been concerned... it was kind of sweet actually.

"He is," she said with another nod, "they get along well and he's been a big help to her."

"That's good to hear," Vilkas sighed. Then he looked back to her and gave her what appeared to be another appraising look over before adding, "come on then, you should speak with Kodlak."

He turned to lead her toward the downstairs and Katie followed uncertainly... this wasn't how he acted in game...

Wait... did... did he actually smile?

He led her down the stairs to the living quarters of the Companions and Katie looked around curiously... she rarely came down here in the game... it actually seemed comfortable... it did smell very faintly like they kept dogs, but it wasn't overbearing like she'd been expecting... if they'd really let her join, this might not be so bad.

"Harbinger," Vilkas greeted as he led her into Kodlak's study, "this is the one who was with the Dragonborn, Farkas sent her to ask about joining us."

"Ah," Kodlak said looking up from a book he'd been reading. "The one Aela said shot the giant in the eye?" He smiled fondly and Katie was even more confused... Aela had noticed she'd shot the giant?

"Aye," Vilkas nodded, "and she was fearless in the face of the dragon."

Kodlak smiled and nodded before turning back to Katie.

"So you wish to join us girl?"

"I... uh... yes... sir..." Katie managed.

"Good, good," Kodlak said with another nod, "come let me have a look at you..." he motioned and Katie stepped forward. "You have a name girl?" He asked as he looked her over with a scrutinizing eye.

"Katie..." she didn't feel confident enough to add 'Eagle-eyes' on to her name when she was here.

"Well Katie," Kodlak smiled, "we've heard a few things about how you fare in battle. We’ve got some beds available for those who conduct themselves with honor."

Katie smiled hopefully at that and Kodlak looked back to Vilkas, "alright boy, take her to the yard and see what she can do with a blade."

"Aye," Vilkas nodded, and he didn't sound resigned or irritated like he usually did in the game, he actually sounded... eager...

Then Kodlak looked back to Katie and warmly added, "go with Vilkas and see how you like training with us. Should you choose to stay, it would be my honor to welcome to the Companions."

"I... thank you, Harbinger..." she nodded, still shocked before turning to follow Vilkas...

So maybe Vilkas was only that grumpy with the Dragonborn, she wondered... or maybe she just wasn’t an outsider he’d never heard of... he actually glanced back at her again with what might have been a smile...

"So, as I recall," Vilkas said conversationally once they got outside, "when we were getting ready to fight that dragon, the Dragonborn called you something else."

"Oh, uh... yeah, uh... Eagle-eyes," Katie admitted, she was starting to regret introducing herself like that...

"Eagle-eyes," Vilkas repeated sounding bemused... "you're that good are you?"

"My eyesight is," Katie shrugged.

Vilkas chuckled, "from what I've seen and heard, so is your aim," he smirked.

Katie just stared at him... it was so weird to see him being nice...

"And how much have you seen and heard of me?" Katie asked in surprise.

Vilkas turned to scan the training yard and for a moment Katie thought he was dismissing her question... which would be much more like the Vilkas she thought she knew from the game... but then he answered in a low voice, still not looking at her, "I was at the fight at the watchtower." Then he glanced back over his shoulder at her, "I know it was your arrow in the dragon's wing joint that downed the beast, and I know you put more arrows in it than most of the Jarl's men combined."

Katie just blinked in surprise... he hadn't just noticed she was there, he'd noticed her shooting...

"So," Vilkas continued, "I know you impress with a bow... what's your blade of choice?"

"Uh..." Katie didn't think she could fake it, so she just braced for his condescending attitude to kick in when she told the truth... "to be honest, I'm not sure I've found one," she admitted, "I've been making due with this sword."

Vilkas cocked his head at her thoughtfully and nodded. "Alright," he said as he grabbed a training sword and a shield, "that comes to my job then."

"Your job?" Katie asked in confusion.

"Aye," Vilkas smirked, "I am Jorrvaskr's Master at Arms. I will instruct you. Let's see what you can do with that," he pointed to her sword, "and then we can see how you like some other options."

Katie just stared at him as he got into a fighting stance in the center of the yard... he wasn't condescending... he was being helpful...?

"A-alright," she said, slowly getting into the fighting stance she'd learned in that fencing class... or at least as close to it as she could recall...

Then she saw Vilkas's face shift into a cocky grin and he smacked the flat of his sword against the shield making a loud, bashing sound.

"Now, show me what you've got, new blood!"

Vilkas parried several of Katie's swings, even blocking a few of them with his shield, then he saw how she parried a couple of his attacks.

"Not bad," he nodded, "what are you doing with your off hand?"

"Uh..." Katie pulled her left hand out from behind her back... "trying not to get it cut off," she shrugged.

Vilkas chuckled. "Alright," he nodded, "not a bad idea if you don't have another weapon or a shield... let's try this..." he handed her his shield and showed her how to hold it...

Katie thought the shield was large and cumbersome, and Vilkas only had to see her block one of his strikes to see that it was not her style.

"Alright, not that..." he shook his head and took the shield back, then looked her over thoughtfully again. A moment later he cocked his eyebrow again. "Weren't you shooting left-handed?"

Katie just looked back at him in surprise for a moment... she definitely hadn't expected him to have noticed something as simple as that in the heat of battle... "uh... yeah," she nodded. Vilkas's expression told her he was clearly waiting for an explanation, so she shrugged and added, "I'm right-handed, but I'm left-eyed, and I'm ambidextrous enough, so I shoot left-handed."

"Makes sense," Vilkas nodded looking a little more impressed, "have you tried dual wielding?"

Katie shook her head, she had played a character once who dual wielded short swords several playthroughs ago, but that was before she'd even been playing on the VR...

"Let's try that," Vilkas decided, leading her up to the rack of training weapons on the porch.

After attempting several combinations of a variety of one handed weapons, Vilkas concluded Katie's most comfortable style would probably be a sword in her right with a dagger in her left. To Katie's utter shock, he'd then simply pulled a plain steel dagger off of his belt and handed it to her.

"Here," he said in a low voice, "go sharpen this thing up and you can keep it."

Katie was too tired and surprised to respond with more than a grateful nod as she looked over the dagger.

"Tilma will have dinner ready by sundown," he continued, "after dinner, either Aela or I can show you where the new bloods sleep."

"A-Alright," Katie said with another nod, "thank you."

He definitely smiled that time... not a cocky grin, but an actual smile... she suddenly could very clearly see that he was Farkas's twin... and he actually wasn't unattractive...

At dinner Katie sat with Ria and Torvar. Ria was friendly and eagerly offered to help her settle in downstairs. Torvar welcomed her with a large mug of mead and an arm around her shoulders. They both wanted to hear about how she'd helped the Dragonborn kill a dragon. Katie was just surprised by the friendliness... she felt a little awkward with Torvar seeming to find every excuse he could to put a hand on her shoulder, or wrap his arm around her, but he did periodically turn to his other side and clap a hand on Athis's shoulder as well. After finishing her own drink she felt a bit more comfortable and decided to just assume Torvar was a friendly, touchy drunk.

Njada and Athis were still yet to say anything directly to her, but otherwise, everyone was much more welcoming than Katie had expected.

Although at some point in the middle of dinner, Katie did notice Vilkas sat across the table from them, and he was looking much more like the Vilkas she recognized... scowling over at her, looking grumpy as he tore into a chunk of roast goat.

Katie didn't care to acknowledge the scowling man, so she just turned her attention back to Torvar, who was leaning pretty heavily on her shoulder at that point, and calling her his favorite drinking buddy.

After dinner Vilkas still looked angry, so Katie let Aela show her where she'd be sleeping. Ria followed excitedly and advised her to take the bed across from hers, which put her at the bed beside the door. The nightstand beside the bed was empty and Aela told her she could stash her belongings there if she wanted. Katie was skeptical, but quickly discovered the drawers had the same convenient enchantment as her pockets, there was no limit to what she could store there...

Then, to Katie's surprise, Ria showed her to an additional hallway that Katie was pretty sure didn't exist in the game... or at least not in the un-modded game... it was a bath chamber... well, two of them actually, but Ria obviously led her to the women's. It was the first real bathing area Katie had seen in Skyrim, and a real bath was heavenly. She felt human again, and the hot water felt great on her aching muscles.

Katie found she was absolutely exhausted by the time she got back to the common room and settled into the bed. It was no modern luxury, but it was as comfortable as the beds she and David had built at the frontier house, and adding alcohol to exhaustion, she was sure she'd have no trouble sleeping at all. In fact, she was almost asleep when a large figure loomed in the doorway, lightly knocking on the door frame.

"Settled in then?" Vilkas's voice pulled her back to full consciousness.

"I... yeah," she stuttered slightly, just looking up at him in confusion.

"Good," Vilkas nodded, "and, just a word of advice," he added, "don't let Torvar hang all over you like that. It doesn't look good for the honor of the Companions."

"I... I wasn't encouraging him or anything," Katie shrugged, "have you tried telling _him_ not to do that?"

"Aye, but..." Vilkas shook his head with a sigh, "just... you don't have to put up with him just because you're new... don't be afraid to punch him if he bothers you."

Katie almost laughed, "oh I wouldn't be," she assured him, "he really wasn't bothering me though."

Vilkas's expression darkened even more at that response... "well, just remember," he grumbled before turning to head back out to the hall, "you're a Companion now, never hesitate or apologize for defending your honor."

Katie didn't manage to think of a response before he turned and stalked down the hall. Katie just sighed and lay back down. So much for that friendly attitude he'd had earlier... she hoped she'd be able to avoid him tomorrow...

...But of course she couldn't. The next morning he informed her she'd be training with him until Skjor decided it was time for her official trial.


	5. Training

The weeks passed steadily, and Katie began to come to terms with the fact that this was not a dream. It made no sense... she wasn't sure what to think about it, so she just tried not to. She decided she'd just take everything one day at a time... make the best of it and keep surviving... it wasn't like she had a super exciting life to get back to at least...

If she never got back home she'd definitely miss her brother and sister-in-law and her niece and nephew, and of course her parents and Pawpaw... but aside from missing her immediate family, she realized Skyrim might not be a bad place to be... she'd really rather be a Companion than a waitress after all...

Besides that, to Katie's surprise, she thought life with the Companions really was pretty pleasant... the common bedrooms reminded her of cabins at summer camps she'd attended before she was old enough to work the re-enactment site... food and drink was provided... and Torvar and Ria made for pretty decent company, although Katie did make a point to follow Vilkas's advice and not let Torvar get so handsy. Katie also noticed Torvar treated Ria the same way when given the chance, but he took it decently well when she or Ria shrugged off his advances. Athis, on the other hand, got himself into a brawl more than once when he'd tried flirting with Njada.

As far as work, she took a few simple jobs around Whiterun, but mostly every day was either training, or hunting. Katie especially liked hunting trips... she'd like them more if she wasn't always stuck with Vilkas... Actually, she'd like training better if it wasn't always with Vilkas too... completely unlike the game mechanics, Vilkas somehow seemed to have gotten the monopoly on all of her training... she and Ria were specifically his responsibility, and he seemed to go hardest on her...

The only exceptions to Vilkas's strict schedule were when Farkas and Summer came back...

The first time they came back it was right after they found the 'mysterious note' in Ustengrav and they were both considerably frustrated by it. Summer wanted to talk to Katie about what she should do next, and Farkas enjoyed the opportunity to have a good sparring match with Vilkas. So Katie had gotten the whole afternoon off. After she advised Summer to just go to the Sleeping Giant Inn and try and rent the attic room, she and Summer both sat on the back porch and watched the brothers spar... which really was an impressive sight...

The next time they came back to Whiterun they had just defeated the dragon in Kynesgrove. Summer spent the morning happily telling Katie all about their travels, and asking if she should trust Delphine... Katie told her Delphine sounded good for information, but they should be cautious of listening to all of her ideas. (Katie hated that they required her to kill Paarthunax and had only ever sided with the Blades on one playthrough.)

Then Summer had gone out to shop for potions and supplies in the afternoon, and Farkas offered to train with her. Katie couldn't believe it, and eagerly agreed. At Farkas’s suggestion, she got outfitted in a cheap set of new iron armor and he was more than happy to show her how she was supposed to move in it. It was absolutely exhausting. Katie quickly understood why it was called _heavy_ armor... but she was training with Farkas, she couldn't stop smiling... and her heart only ached a little at the thought of being just friends...

The next day, Katie wasn't sure if Vilkas went even harder than normal on her in training or if she was just extra tired from trying to run in that iron the day before.

When Farkas and Summer came back after infiltrating the Thalmor Embassy, Katie pulled the heavy armor back out, and after having a good long morning chat with Summer, she got to train with Farkas again.

The next day, Katie was sure she wasn't imagining Vilkas's bad mood. When he swung his great sword at her so hard he buried the tip in the ground when she dodged, she'd had enough. It was just his training sword, but that would have broken bones if he'd hit her.

"What the fuck is your problem today?" She snapped angrily.

"My problem?" Vilkas repeated as he pulled his sword out of the ground. "You're too slow. Did you wear yourself out loafing around with my brother yesterday?"

"Is that your problem?" Katie retorted, "I trained with someone else yesterday, so now you've got an extra day's worth of pent up aggression?"

Vilkas scowled as he brought his sword swinging at her again. She got her sword and dagger up to block and caught his sword with her blades, but his force still shoved her back toward the wall. He continued pressing forward until Katie couldn't back up any further and his face was inches from hers.

"Heavy armor doesn't suit you," he growled. Katie just glared back at him and tried to shove him back. The muscles in her arms and back strained painfully, but she managed it. The pain didn't let up when Vilkas stumbled backwards. She was sure she'd pulled something. Her eyes watered but she refused to let him see her grimace as she stomped back toward the porch.

"And where are you going?" Vilkas demanded, "we're not finished!"

"I am," Katie snapped and continued on inside. She hurried down to the women's bath where she knew he wouldn't follow and resolved to just hide in there the rest of the day... besides, soaking in the hot water for a few hours might help whatever she'd pulled in her arms and back.

Katie was fuming as she settled into the water. Why did he have to always go so hard on her? Why couldn't she train with Aela? Why the fuck was he so mad about her trying to learn to use real armor instead of her leather?

After about an hour Ria came down to find her.

"Hey," she said quietly, "you ok?"

"Yeah," Katie grumbled. Her shoulders still hurt though.

"Vilkas asked me to bring you this..." Ria held out a small red bottle and Katie just raised an eyebrow at it in surprised confusion. "He also said he'd like to apologize if you're willing to come talk to him," Ria added.

Katie took the red bottle suspiciously... it looked like a healing potion. Summer had given her several to stash in one of her enchanted pockets, but she was yet to actually take one for anything. She opened it curiously... it smelled medicinal... and berry flavored... she drank it... it tasted like an awkward blend of blueberry and cherry with an underlying medicinal bitterness. Honestly it was awful... but then Katie felt a soothing warmth seep into her strained muscles and the pain was gone.

Then the second part of what Ria had said registered with her...

"He wants to apologize?" Katie asked skeptically.

"Mmhmm," Ria nodded.

"Who put him up to that?" Katie retorted.

"No one as far as I'm aware," Ria shrugged.

"Hmm..." Katie grumbled, "I'll think about it."

Ria just shook her head and left her be. Katie settled grumpily back into the bath, but now that her sore muscles were healed she was a little curious what he would have to say...

Finally, Katie dragged herself out of the water and dried off. It was still a little early for dinner so in order to avoid Vilkas dragging her back to the training yard, instead of her armor, she put on a plain blue dress that she'd bought for relaxing and sleeping in. She left her wet hair down to dry, and made her way slowly upstairs.

Vilkas was sitting, sulking at one of the corner tables with his back to the stairs. He looked like he could have been sitting there the entire time she'd been hiding in the bath. He turned his head to see her as she approached, and for a moment his eyes widened in surprise, and then he looked sad, almost hopeless for a moment, before his face returned to his familiar scowl.

'Great, here we go...' Katie thought. "Ria said you wanted to talk to me," she began uncertainly.

"Aye," Vilkas nodded and gestured to the other chair at the small table. Katie raised an eyebrow skeptically but sat, and Vilkas passed her one of the mugs of mead... Katie noticed there were several mugs, and at least half of them were already empty.

"My apologies, Eagle-eyes," he said in a low voice, "I shouldn't have let my temper get the better of me..."

"No you shouldn't have," Katie grumbled into her drink, but Vilkas clearly heard her... he paused and just regarded her with an expression that reminded Katie of a kicked dog. Katie's own temper softened a little at that... he was trying to apologize after all...

"Are you hurt?" He asked sounding almost sad now.

"I'm ok," she shook her head and Vilkas raised his eyebrow at her skeptically. "Well, I'm ok _now_ ," she added. "Th-thanks for that potion,” she said quietly.

“I thought you looked like you were trying to hide your pain,” Vilkas nodded. “I am sorry for that,” he added quietly, looking angrily into his mug.

Katie nodded and sighed. Even apologizing he had a scowl on his face... “What did I even do to piss you off this time?" She asked in exasperation.

"This time?" Vilkas repeated sounding confused.

"Yeah, why are you always so mad?” Katie asked, at least half expecting that question to make him more mad...

“I’m not...” Vilkas replied, his eyebrows furrowed. Katie snorted.

“Really? A smile on your face is as rare as that scowl is on Farkas’s,” she retorted. Vilkas actually smirked at that...

“Seems you’ve been paying a lot of attention to my face,” he said in a smug tone.

“Well when I have to see it every darn day,” she grumbled. Vilkas chuckled and went back to his drink, and Katie decided to push her luck...

“And why do you always go so rough on me and none of the other new bloods?" She demanded. Vilkas looked back up from his drink with his eyebrows raised in surprise...

"Because you can take it... usually," he smirked.

Katie scowled. "What about Ria?"

"Ria's just a girl," Vilkas shrugged.

"And what the fuck do you think I am?" She demanded indignantly.

"A woman," Vilkas smirked.

Katie's brow furrowed... "I'm not that much older than she is..." Katie grumbled.

"How old do you think she is?" Vilkas chuckled.

"26?" Katie guessed.

"She's 22," Vilkas corrected smugly.

"Ok, old man," Katie rolled her eyes.

"How old do you think I am?" He laughed.

"37," Katie replied flatly. Vilkas laughed harder.

"32," he replied. Katie raised her eyebrow in confusion.

"Farkas said you were seven when your father left for the Great War... and... that was thirty years ago, wasn't it?"

"Aye," Vilkas nodded, "the Great War started thirty years ago... Jergen didn't leave till close to the end... he joined the last efforts to try and drive back the Dominion, but they failed."

"Oh..." Katie said in surprise.

"He stayed out of it as long as he could for Farkas and me."

"I'm sorry I brought up..." Katie began, but Vilkas dismissed it with a wave of his hand.

"It’s fine. Back to the matter at hand," he smirked, "how old are you?" He asked curiously.

"How old do you think I am?" Katie countered a little exasperated.

"28?" Vilkas guessed.

"27," Katie corrected, but then she admitted, "I'll be 28 in Oct... shit... uh... Frost Fall... the uh... the seventh of Frost Fall."

"Forget your own birthday?" Vilkas chuckled.

"You'd be surprised how easy that is to do when there's no one to celebrate it with you," she shrugged. "But hold on, that's not the matter at hand," Katie suddenly realized, "you’re dodging my questions..."

Vilkas just raised his eyebrow at her and pretended to be very interested in his mead.

"I'm serious," Katie continued, "why did me trying to learn to use real armor make you so mad?"

Vilkas sighed and shook his head. He took a long drink and drained another mug before answering, "your fighting style is an agile one. You're best suited to moving quickly, shooting and dodging. So I've been trying to teach you techniques for that style. Heavy armor is entirely counter to that... a waste of your time... I... I just didn't like it."

Katie raised her eyebrows in shock. She hadn't expected the grumpy twin to care what she did. But she realized it did make sense... in the game if the Dragonborn asked him about joining he said something rude about not having time to find out if they're worthwhile. So obviously if he thought she was wasting his time he'd be angry about that...

"I wasn't trying to waste your time," she said quietly. Vilkas raised his eyebrows in surprise and Katie shrugged, "Farkas said Summer can't wear a lot of armor, and he wanted to train with someone to keep his skills sharp... I didn't think about it, I'd've tried to learn anything he needed me to honestly..."

"I see..." Vilkas said quietly. Katie realized he didn't look like that made him feel better... he grabbed his last mug and just stared quietly at it for a moment before speaking again, "not sure heavy armor suits him as well as he thinks it does either." Vilkas sighed, "I love my brother, but sometimes I don't think brains are his strong suit..."

Katie furrowed her brow... here he was insulting Farkas... one of the things he did in game that irritated her...

“He's so stubborn," Vilkas continued, "I try to tell him he should try a short sword or a mace, and he gets mad at me and just practices that much more with the great sword... I tell him he should try light armor, he doubles his training in steel." Vilkas shook his head, “I don’t like to see you doing the same thing he is,” he sighed, “I worry enough about him.”

Katie just looked at Vilkas in surprise for a moment. She realized he reminded her a little of how her own brother tended to worry about her... and that did sound like something Farkas would do... stubbornly training double to do something his brother thought he couldn't... maybe Vilkas wasn't insulting Farkas... he was just... being a brother... Katie smiled.

"Summer said she gave him a mace and a shield they found in Ustengrav," Katie told him, "so he's using a one-handed weapon now."

"And doing twice as well with it I imagine," Vilkas chuckled.

"Sounded like it," Katie nodded.

"Good... now if he'd just try some lighter armor he'd be as good as me," Vilkas said with a cocky smirk.

"I don't suppose it was all his extra training in that heavy armor that made him bigger and stronger than you?" Katie retorted.

"Who said he was stronger than me?" Vilkas snapped with a scowl.

"He did," Katie smirked.

"Of course he did," Vilkas rolled his eyes.

"But wouldn’t practicing moving around in heavy armor make for good strength training?” Katie asked with a smirk, "and be, you know... not a waste of time...?"

Vilkas sighed. "Fine," he grumbled, "but the next time he comes to town he and and I are having another sparring match, and I'll show you who's stronger."

"And you'll quit being so harsh on me in training?" Katie asked hopefully.

"Not a chance," Vilkas chuckled.

Katie groaned.

"Oh come on Eagle-eyes," he laughed, "you're the woman I saw stare into a dragon's face without backing down... surely you can handle training with me."

"I don't know," Katie grumbled, "sometimes I think the dragon's easier to deal with."

Vilkas just laughed harder at that, and Katie rolled her eyes. Training tomorrow was going to suck.


	6. Still a Whelp

The next few weeks passed a little more pleasantly... Katie was no longer afraid to mouth off at Vilkas when he made her angry, and as a result their training sessions began to involve much more witty banter and she started to see a little less of his angry scowl... but he was still hardest on her in training, and sometimes he could be a downright ass.

Then, one afternoon, as Katie was recollecting her arrows from target practice, Vilkas finished his personal training and put his sword away. She looked over at him curiously... this was normally when he'd call her and Ria for training... so why was he putting down his sword?

"Alright, whelps," Vilkas looked up at them with a grin, "it's unarmed combat today..."

"Oh, great..." Katie grumbled under her breath. The smirk that Vilkas gave her in response to that told her this would not be an easy afternoon.

When he trained with Ria it was basically a fist fight... they exchanged several punches and Vilkas gave her advice on how to make sure she punched correctly and didn't break her hand if she missed and hit his armor. He made her practice that until she was clearly worn out...

Then it was Katie's turn...

"Alright, Eagle-eyes," Vilkas smirked, "let's see what you've got..."

Katie sighed and made her way to the yard to face him as Ria slumped into a chair on the porch. Vilkas hardly looked like he'd broken a sweat, a fact he looked way too smug about. Katie got into a fighting stance, trying not to feel nervous... this would be her first fist fight since sparing with her brother in selfdefense class, and Vilkas was a little bigger than David...

Vilkas raised an eyebrow at her, "what? No witty remarks or challenges today?" He asked.

"Don't think your ego needs anymore inflating at the moment," Katie replied flatly.

Vilkas chuckled. A cocky grin spread slowly across his face as he looked over her fighting stance, and then, unlike his fight with Ria, he threw the first punch. Katie narrowly dodged and countered with a quick jab that landed across his cheekbone, right under his eye. Vilkas blinked in surprise, but then his grin came back and he lunged at her again. Katie blocked with her arm and therefore avoided a hit to the face, but the force of his punch still knocked her back... not to mention hurt. Katie tried to dart around him and get an opening, but he was as quick as she was. She punched, he blocked... he punched, she dodged, and so the match went. Katie was only really able to land quick jabs, which were good, but didn't have the force of a good punch.

Then Katie threw yet another punch toward Vilkas's face, but instead of blocking like he had been, he caught her wrist and pulled her forward. Trying to block his next punch and catch her balance, Katie grabbed his other arm, and soon instead of a fist fight, they were in a grapple.

Katie hoped she still had the muscle memory for this... several of the techniques from selfdefense class were geared toward escaping situations like a grapple... or worse...

They struggled against each other for several moments, and Katie could feel that Vilkas definitely had the upper hand. She was no match whatsoever for his strength. Katie shoved against him as hard as she could, and then as soon as he pushed back she suddenly switched to pull him forward. Vilkas pitched off balance and Katie stepped quickly to one side, got her leg behind his, stuck out her hip and flipped him over onto his back on the ground. It worked almost perfectly... almost...

Instead of hitting the ground in shock and awe as Katie had hoped, Vilkas hadn't let go, and took her down with him. She did manage to drop with her knee into his stomach, which caused Vilkas to grunt loudly in discomfort, but not to let go.

Katie fumbled to regain control of the situation, but Vilkas managed it quicker. The next thing Katie knew, the arm she'd been supporting herself with was pulled out from under her, and Vilkas flipped her onto her back, pinning her beneath him.

The air was knocked out of her and for a few moments all she could do was stare up at Vilkas's smug grin while she tried to catch her breath. He was breathing heavily too, looming over her, looking way too pleased with himself.

Katie relaxed her muscles just long enough to make him start to think she was yielding... the women's selfdefense class had definitely made sure they knew several ways to get out of this position... Vilkas let out a smug chuckle just before Katie bucked up with her hips, forcing him to pitch forward with a startled and pained groan as she caught hold of one of his arms for leverage, rolled to her side, and kicked out from under him. She threw one final punch to his face, catching him on the same cheekbone, before jumping to her feet and getting back to a fighting stance, several yards away from him. Vilkas just groaned as he slowly rolled over and didn't get up.

Ria, Torvar, and Athis were just staring in shock from the porch, but Aela and Skjor burst out laughing.

For several moments Vilkas didn't even move... then,

"By Ysmir..." he swore, slowly sitting up with a grimace on his face.

Katie's adrenaline rush slowly died down as she realized he wasn't going to continue the fight.

"That was impressive," he admitted, wheezing slightly. He started to get up but just paused in a crouched position, wincing in pain and panting for breath.

Seeing Vilkas failing to get up made Skjor and Aela laugh harder, and soon Torvar and Athis joined in.

Katie suddenly realized, partly amused, partly mortified, why he was in so much pain...

"I... I'm sorry..." she said quickly... "I thought... I mean... shouldn't armor protect you from that?"

"Oh it does," Skjor laughed, "when everything's in place!"

"Shut up!" Vilkas growled, still on the ground, glaring at the older warrior.

"It doesn't protect so well when things get hard!" Skjor continued, laughing so hard he was holding his sides, ignoring Vilkas's angry glares completely.

Katie suddenly caught on in mild shock... but then, it probably did make sense...

"Sorry," she said again, trying not to giggle, "I guess I should have figured you'd be the type to get off on defeating someone..."

Vilkas wouldn't look at her. “Shut up. You’re still a whelp,” he growled as he finally managed to get to his feet and he stalked inside without another word.

Once he was gone the whole yard burst into laughter again. Katie just smirked as she realized she had some of his warpaint smudged on her knuckles... that felt like a badge of honor...

That evening Vilkas shut himself in his room for dinner while the rest of the Companions continued to retell the story at his expense. Katie was almost starting to feel bad about, but she still thought it was funny.

She was a bit surprised when Skjor approached her the next morning. He wanted her to go clear a mine that had been overrun with draugr. It was a job originally requesting several legionnaires, but they were all busy with the war, so the request had been sent on to the Companions. It wasn't a particularly unusual job, but it was a good time for Katie's official trial, so this was to be her job.

"Aela will be your shield-sister for this job," Skjor concluded, "and you'd better get her back here in one piece."

"Pretty sure Aela can take care of herself," Katie grumbled under her breath, but of course Skjor heard her...

"Of course she can," he snapped, "as long as you don't do something stupid and get her overrun."

"I won't, I won't," Katie grumbled as she headed off to find Aela.

Aela wasn't outside... she wasn't in the dining hall... she wasn't in her room...

Katie finally found her leaving Kodlak's office, followed by Vilkas.

"Ah, there you are," Aela said upon seeing her.

"Skjor said you're going to be my shield-sister?"

"I was," Aela shrugged, "seems there's been a change of plans though. Vilkas called dibs on you." She jerked her thumb back toward Vilkas who scowled.

"Why?" Katie asked in surprise. Vilkas just seemed to scowl more at her question.

"Kodlak doesn't think its a good idea for two primarily ranged fighters to go into a mine full of draugr, so you get me instead," Vilkas explained grumpily.

Aela just chuckled as she walked past, leaving Katie staring at Vilkas in annoyance. He was obviously still angry...

"Are you going to get ready to go or just stand there glaring at me?" Vilkas asked with a scowl.

"Oh you're one to talk about glaring," Katie retorted. "Are you gonna be this grumpy the whole trip?"

"Just hurry up," Vilkas grumbled before he stalked off toward his room. Katie rolled her eyes and went to grab her own gear.

She wasn't sure what to expect for how long they'd be gone or whether they’d be able to stop at an inn, so she packed her tent and bedroll and the pair of warmer soft leather pants and matching shirt she'd bought for sleeping in when it got cold. She'd also bought some extra suede and made her self some coverings to go over her wool socks and trap in the heat. She was pretty sure she did not have the cold resistance of a Nord like everyone would expect her to, and as it got further along in the year she was getting a little worried about surviving the winter. Katie was really bad at keeping track of time, but she was pretty sure it was still Hearthfire... which should have been equivalent to September, and there was a considerable chill in the air, especially at night. It felt a little more like October should in Colorado, not September, so Katie guessed the winter would get a little colder than Colorado typically would... which could be trouble if she was unprepared.

Obviously her best bet was to stick with the Companions, the living quarters being all underground kept them pretty well insulated, and she was pretty sure Tilma used some kind of magic to keep the hearth burning upstairs... so that meant if this was her official trial she'd need to impress Vilkas enough to let her stay... that realization suddenly made her a little more nervous as she packed.

"Meet me at the stables when you're ready."

Katie jumped as Vilkas's low, grumpy voice pulled her from her thoughts. She whipped around to find him standing in the doorway, fully armored, with his skyforge steel great sword strapped to his back. He looked just as grumpy as before, but then he slowly smirked as he realized he'd startled her.

"Alright," Katie grumbled before turning back to the pile of things she was working on organizing into her enchanted pockets. That smirk of his bothered her...

Tilma told her Vilkas had taken the food she'd packed for them, so Katie set off for the stables.

When she got there Vilkas was just finishing saddling what Katie was pretty sure was the same black stallion that Farkas had rented over a month ago. He looked over his shoulder at her as she approached.

"On horseback we should make it there with only one overnight," he said, "you can rent your own horse, or ride with me, your choice."

Katie considered... she wasn't keen on spending that much of her money on a horse for at least two nights, but she was even less keen on tryin to ride behind Vilkas with that great sword in her face...

"I can just see it now," she joked, "you explaining to Kodlak how I got impaled when the horse started running while I was trying to fit in the saddle behind you."

Vilkas rolled his eyes as he mounted his horse and scooted himself to the very back of the saddle. "I'll let you ride in front," he sighed offering her his hand.

"I guess there is less to impale myself on that way..." Katie said with a resigned sigh as she took Vilkas's hand.

"Not necessarily," he smirked.

Katie just raised an eyebrow at him in confusion, she had been starting to try to figure out how she was going to swing her leg over to mount the horse with him sitting there... but then Vilkas pulled her closer, and reached with his other arm and just simply lifted her entirely into the saddle, sitting across his lap side-saddle.

"I just don't want to impale you with the sword," he whispered as she leaned back against his chest and swung her leg awkwardly over the horse's head instead. His hands settled on her hips to steady her as she did so and Katie's heart skipped a moment as she caught his meaning... no... that couldn't be what he meant... no, there was no way...

"Careful Vilkas," she teased as she righted herself in the saddle, stubbornly ignoring the goosebumps on the back of her neck, "after yesterday's incident I might think you're implying something."

The way he chuckled did nothing to alleviate her goosebumps... nor did the fact that his arms reached around her as he reined the horse around and they set off down the road.


	7. Shield-Brother

They rode most of the morning without trouble. Vilkas had just suggested stopping for lunch and reined the horse off the road when a distant roar caught their ears, followed moments later by a responding "YOL TOOR SHUL!"

"Come on!" Katie said excitedly jumping down and pulling out her bow, "we can help!"

"Aye," Vilkas nodded. He quickly tied the horse to a nearby tree and followed as Katie ran toward the sounds of the battle.

Katie could tell her training was paying off... she wasn't winded by the time she crested the hill and the dragon came into view... her adrenaline surged and she took aim with her bow... and... she let her arrow fly straight into the dragon's wing before running for cover as the dragon made a pass with its ice breath.

"Katie!" She heard Farkas yell excitedly. Katie's heart skipped. _Farkas was happy to see her_...

"Katie's here?" Summer asked just as excitedly.

Katie darted out of cover as soon as the dragon passed and ran toward them.

"Katie!" Summer cheered. Katie only knew it was Summer by her voice and the fact she was with Farkas. She was wearing long mages robes and one of the dragon priest masks. Farkas was wearing the green, malachite armor, with a magic staff in each hand... Katie remembered giving him that armor set in game... and she definitely remembered giving him a few magic staffs to carry when she was over-encumbered. She’d been shocked and amazed first time he'd used them in a fight...

"Hi, need any help?" Katie grinned, turning back to take aim at the sky as soon as she reached them.

"No, but we'd be glad to have it anyway," Summer replied sounding almost giddy behind the mask.

Farkas laughed. "You smell like my brother," he added a moment later, "where's he at?"

"Oh fuck... I think I left him behind..." Katie realized sheepishly.

Farkas laughed harder as the dragon flew back into view. Summer put her hands together and cast a massive lightning bolt at it, Farkas threw a fireball from each staff and Katie loosed her arrow before all three of them scattered to avoid the oncoming blast of ice. Katie saw another arrow fly into the dragon's underside from farther down the valley, and moments later Vilkas was running into view with his bow in hand. Katie jumped onto the boulder she'd ducked behind and fired another arrow into the dragon's wing as it turned toward Vilkas. The dragon turned sharper than it looked like it meant to and then one of Summer's lightning bolts brought it crashing to the ground.

As soon as it was grounded Vilkas dropped his bow, unsheathed his great sword, and charged. Farkas likewise put away his staffs and charged in with an ebony shield and sword. Katie couldn't see where Summer had gone, but she could see the frequent lightning bolts continuing to arch across the dragon's body. Katie jumped back onto the boulder and shot more arrows into any weak looking spots she could see in the scales as the dragon thrashed about.

Katie had no idea who had gotten the final blow, but it didn't take long for the dragon to fall dead. Katie watched from her vantage point atop the boulder as Summer absorbed the dragon's soul. Farkas ran to her and lifted her into a hug and spun her around happily. Katie smiled. She wished the game mechanics had actually had the characters showing that kind of emotion and affection. It was adorable to see.

"Damn it woman, don't do that to me!"

Katie jumped as Vilkas's irritated voice startled her.

"Do what?" Katie asked looking down in surprise. Vilkas was standing beside the boulder, glaring up at her as he caught his breath. Katie realized he must have just sprinted over from where he'd been beside dragon.

"Run off like that," he snapped irritably.

"I mean, we've already established a dragon is easier to deal with than you are," Katie retorted with a smirk.

Vilkas looked like he was about to snap back at her, but he was interrupted by Farkas practically hug-tackling him.

Katie laughed and hopped off the rock. To her surprise, with one arm still around Vilkas, Farkas grabbed her into a one armed bear hug as well. Her heart skipped as she was nearly crushed against Farkas's chest.

"Now that was a battle," Farkas declared happily.

"Alright, alright," Vilkas grumbled, "brother let me go," he complained as he shoved out of Farkas's grip. Vilkas looked Farkas in the eye, and Farkas just held his gaze for a moment... Vilkas looked just as grumpy, but Farkas raised an eyebrow and laughed before he let go of Katie and turned back to Summer who was just reaching them. She'd taken off her mask and was still grinning as her adrenaline died down.

"That one was bigger than the last few, wasn't it?" Farkas asked.

"I'd have to compare the bones to say for sure, but I think so," Summer nodded, and then she rushed to Katie and hugged her as well. "It's so good to see you!" She exclaimed.

"You too," Katie agreed, "I can't believe we just happened to find you!"

"What're you two doin' out here?" Farkas asked, looking back to Vilkas.

"New blood's trial," Vilkas replied, nodding his head toward Katie.

"Huh..." Farkas nodded with a smirk, "not like you to take someone for a trial... those usually get put on me or Aela..."

"Aye, well, you're busy..." Vilkas grumbled.

Farkas chuckled and Vilkas glared at him, which made Farkas laugh harder.

"What're you two doing out here?" Katie asked, turning back to Summer.

"Off to meet the two Blades at their supposed ancient Blades temple and see what information we can get on Alduin's defeat," Summer explained, "after that we've got to go back to Riften to make good on a promise."

"A promise?" Vilkas raised his eyebrow suspiciously.

"Yeah, the guy who helped us find this old Blades guy," Farkas explained, "we told him we'd help him with some trouble after he helped us."

Vilkas just nodded.

"We were just about to stop for lunch," Katie said, "do you have time to sit and catch up?"

"Yes," Summer agreed eagerly.

"Food after a dragon fight is always good," Farkas agreed.

"You think food after anything is good," Vilkas retorted.

"Because it is," Farkas shrugged.

"This is why five days of trail rations lasts us two," Summer giggled.

"Which is why I pack the rations," Farkas replied.

"Which is why you're fat," Vilkas shot back.

"Hey," Farkas protested, "this is all muscle," he claimed, holding up his arm to show off his massive flexed bicep.

"Aye, but your gut's not," Vilkas teased.

"That's just cushioning," Farkas laughed, "makes me harder to hurt than your scrawny self..."

Katie just shook her head... Farkas definitely wasn't fat... and she was pretty sure Vilkas wasn't scrawny either... but she wasn't going to get between brothers being brothers.

Summer apparently had different ideas...

"Farkas, I've seen your abs," she smirked, "you're not fat." She winked and a little bit of a blush crept up Farkas's face along with a big grin. He looked like he was about to say something but Vilkas just covered his face with his hand.

"For the love of Talos," Vilkas sighed, "I don't want to know."

Farkas burst out laughing at that. "Good, I'll tell ya later," Farkas smirked.

Vilkas groaned.

The brothers did eventually stop their banter long enough to eat and discuss the latest events. Katie warned them that there would be Foresworn all over Karthspire, and that there would likely be several traps and puzzles that only Summer could solve in the old Blades' temple. Summer thanked her and after lunch she helped her collect as many of her arrows as they could from the dragon skeleton while Vilkas repacked their rations and readied the horse.

"Katie," Summer said in a hissed whisper as they collected arrows. Katie raised her eyebrows attentively and Summer quietly asked, "you tend to know everything... did you know the Companions are werewolves?"

"Yeah," Katie whispered, "how'd you find out?"

"Farkas told me," Summer replied then she blushed a little and explained, "I... I mentioned that I wouldn't mind building a homestead after the dragons were all handled... he got really moody and mopey for a while and told me he needed to tell me something..." Summer paused, "I was so scared he was going to leave me, so when... when he showed me his wolf form I was actually relieved it was that and not something worse," she admitted sheepishly. Katie almost laughed but managed to just smirk quietly as Summer continued... "He was afraid I'd think he's cursed and disgusting or something..." Summer smiled sadly, "I told him I'm literally something like part dragon, a wolf isn't gonna scare me."

"How'd he react to that?" Katie smirked.

"He... he turned back and kissed me," Summer said blushing, "and he uh... he didn't have clothes when he turned back..."

"Oh..." Katie commented, a little wide-eyed.

"N-nothing happened," Summer added quickly, blushing a bit darker, "I mean, except for kissing and, um... I saw..."

Katie giggled, which made Summer more flustered. Katie tried to remember when she'd gotten her character married in her last game... she was pretty sure it was after the Thieves Guild quest line, but she couldn't remember.

"You two seem really happy," Katie smiled. Her heart ached with a twinge of jealousy, but she wouldn't want to come between them for all the world. They both just looked so adorably happy.

"I just hope he still thinks I'm so exciting when we run out of dragons to hunt," Summer admitted nervously.

"He will," Katie assured her.

"I hope you're right," she sighed.

They went back to digging for the last of Katie's arrows, she hadn't realized she'd shot so many... then Summer spoke again.

"Wait, how'd you find out?" She asked in confusion, "about the Companions I mean."

"Oh... I've read up on their history. I knew they've been werewolves for several generations," Katie shrugged, "knowing that and then getting to know them a bit I just kind of assumed it was still true."

"Makes sense," Summer nodded.

They finally finished collecting all of Katie's salvageable arrows and Summer hugged Katie goodbye, Farkas clapped a hand on her back and wished her luck on her trial, then he clapped Vilkas on the shoulder with more force than necessary and Vilkas returned the favor.

Then with Vilkas grumbling about a much longer stop than planned, they got back on their horse and back on the road. Katie made sure to climb on first so they could avoid that awkward business of Vilkas having to pick her up across his lap.

They rode till sunset when the wind started to whip around them much colder than it had been during the day.

"This'll have to do," Vilkas sighed, guiding the horse off the road into a grassy field between a few boulders.

They dismounted and Vilkas set to hammering a steak into the ground to tie up the horse. Then he unsaddled and brushed the animal while Katie tried to get a fire set up... it was cold, cloudy, and getting darker quickly and Katie was struggling to find enough firewood. Katie hadn't realized quite how cold it was until they'd gotten off the horse and she no longer had Vilkas shielding her from the wind. They must have been up in elevation because it was considerably colder than Katie was prepared for. She got the fire built, but she couldn't get it lit. She looked over at Vilkas who seemed entirely unfazed by the cold... Katie, sitting on a rock in front of a cold pile of sticks wasn't fairing as well.

The wind picked up again as Vilkas finished with the horse. Katie tried not to let him see her shiver as she kept trying to light the fire, but Vilkas noticed anyway.

"You can't possibly be cold in this?" He chuckled and Katie realized small snow flurries were starting to spiral through the air. Katie sighed in frustration... she was freezing and her hands were too numb to light the fire... she had to tell Vilkas... hopefully he wouldn't think she was weak...

"Can I tell you a secret?" She grumbled as she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to warm up.

"Of course," Vilkas replied. His eyebrows raised in surprised concern, and his tone was much more gentle than Katie had expected as he stepped toward her.

"I'm not sure I'm actually a Nord," she admitted.

Vilkas raised an eyebrow at her in surprise, but then he looked her over curiously and his brow suddenly furrowed. He reached out and took her hands...

"Ysmir's beard, you're freezing!" He exclaimed in surprise.

"I hadn't noticed," Katie grumbled.

"For the love of Talos, woman, why didn't you tell me?" He asked as he pulled a bear pelt from one of his enchanted pockets. He draped the pelt across her shoulders and turned to pick up the flint and steel she'd dropped.

"I didn't even think about it," she shuddered and pulled the fur tightly around her, "I don't actually know what I am and everyone assumes I'm a Nord so I've never thought to argue."

"I see," Vilkas nodded with a furrowed brow as he worked to light the fire. Once he got the small fire going he set off without a word to collect more firewood.

Katie sighed and leaned closer to the small fire, moving a few sticks to keep it going as it burned. She wasn't sure what she'd expected Vilkas's reaction to be, but that hadn't been it... not that she was going to complain of course... she still hoped he wouldn't see her as weak because of this...

He came back a few minutes later with an armload of decent sized sticks, and set about slowly feeding the fire.

Once Katie's hands were warm enough to feel functional, she got up and pulled out her tent.

"Oh good, you do have a tent," Vilkas said in relief, "here, let me, you stay by the fire," he instructed gently as he reached for the tent.

"Ar-aren't I supposed to be proving my strength and honor or something on this trip?" Katie protested.

"Aye," Vilkas smirked, "and sometimes that means knowing when to let your shield-brother take care of you."

"A-alright," Katie nodded. She let Vilkas take the tent and huddled closer to the fire while he set it up. To her surprise he didn't even look horribly grumpy about it.

"Had a thought," Vilkas commented in a casual tone once he'd finished and joined her beside the fire again, "you don't sleep in the nude do you?"

Katie looked up at him in surprise to see him watching her with a teasing smirk. She furrowed her eyebrows at him and rolled her eyes.

"No," she replied irritably, but she couldn’t keep the slight smirk from her face, "especially not when I'm camping with a man in the snow."

Katie wasn't sure if her goosebumps were from the damn snow, or from the way Vilkas chuckled and just continued smirking at that...


	8. A Friend

The next morning Katie was a little startled by how close Vilkas was. Despite his teasing, she had been surprised the night before when he informed he'd share the tent to keep her warmer. It was the sort of kind and caring gesture she'd expect from Farkas, not Vilkas. Although, he really looked like Farkas when he slept... when he wasn't scowling...

He didn't do anything cliche like wrap his arms around her in the night, but he had positioned his bedroll so that it opened toward her and with the bear pelt draped over them Katie could distinctly feel the warmth radiating off of him... it was rather surprising how warm he was.

"Oh good, you survived the night," Vilkas commented in a voice that was something between a grumble and a chuckle as he woke.

"So did you," Katie smirked. Vilkas chuckled at that and Katie couldn't help but smile. "Thank you," she added a little sheepishly.

"Aye," he smirked, "just don't tell the other whelps... they'll think I'm playing favorites."

"You? Favorites? Never," Katie smirked.

Vilkas chuckled as he climbed out of his bedroll and left the tent so Katie could get her armor on.

When she left the tent, armored up and still wrapped in the bear pelt, Vilkas had stoked the fire back up and was warming up some of their rations.

“Here you are,” he nodded, handing her a warm half loaf of bread as she sat down. “Dried meat is dried meat,” he shrugged, “but I figured the bread could be good warmed.”

“Thank you,” Katie smiled. “You know,” she commented between bites of breakfast, “for the grumpy twin, you really can be sweet.”

“The grumpy twin huh?” Vilkas repeated with a furrowed brow.

“And the scowl’s back,” Katie sighed jokingly.

Vilkas rolled his eyes and continued to watch her with that furrowed brow, but then one eyebrow rose and he continued regarding her with a thoughtful frown.

“What?” Katie asked after a few moments.

Vilkas sighed and shook his head, “you don’t make any sense Eagle-eyes.”

“Now what’d I do?” She asked in confusion, and Vilkas just chuckled.

“You’re the perfect picture of a Nord woman, except that you’re wrapped in a bear skin, and huddled by a fire, shivering.”

Katie’s heart jumped a little... that sounded a whole lot like half a compliment... it also sounded like he looked down on her for being so cold... but then,

“How in Oblivion are you not a Nord?” He asked, still looking at her in disbelief.

It was Katie’s turn to sigh and roll her eyes... “I’m actually a bob-tailed, furless Khajiit who can’t see in the dark,” she grumbled in exasperation.

Vilkas cocked his eyebrow at her again, but this time he laughed. Then, Katie was startled as he slowly reached up and grabbed her chin with his calloused fingers and gently turned her head slowly from side to side.

“No whiskers,” he smirked. Then he ran his fingers along her jaw and into her hair, pulling it out of the way as he examined her ear, gently running his thumb along her earlobe... “Definitely not cat ears,” he shook his head. He slowly trailed his fingers back down the line of her jaw, before letting his hand drop from her chin. “Afraid I’d have to see your tail to believe that,” he chuckled.

Katie hadn’t realized she’d been holding her breath until his hand fell away... she just blinked at him for a few moments trying to calm her pulse back down... what the fuck was that? Was Vilkas flirting? No... that wasn’t possible... he was teasing her... messing with her. She tore her eyes away from his smug smirk and shook her head.

“Sorry, it’s too short, that would be indecent of me to show you,” she said, stubbornly looking back to the fire and trying to ignore the blush she was sure she had creeping up her cheeks.

Vilkas full on laughed at that, and Katie went back to eating her bread trying not to feel like he’d just somehow won whatever that exchange had been.

“Don’t we have somewhere to be that’s not in the damn snow?” She grumbled several moments later.

“Aye,” Vilkas nodded, still chuckling, “stay by the fire, I’ll pack up.”

“You sure?” Katie asked, looking back at him in surprise.

“Aye,” Vilkas nodded again, “can’t have you freeze your tail off.”

Katie frowned and went back to her breakfast which just made Vilkas continue chuckling as he packed up their campsite.

They finally got to Soljund's Sinkhole, and Katie was relieved to find some things were still following the game operations to a tee. Her trial was to clear the draugr out of the mine. She'd done this in the video game several times, and despite the final boss being a draugr overlord, the familiarity was comforting. She was also excited at the entire quiver of orcish arrows she'd found afterwards. Vilkas had followed and observed mostly, but on a couple of occasions he'd charged in to deal with a group of draugr himself. The first time he did Katie had been afraid he didn't think she was capable, but then she saw the subtle smile on his face as he cut down the last draugr and she was pretty sure he'd charged in simply for the sake of his own bloodlust.

After they made it out of the mine Vilkas suggested they head south to overnight at the inn instead of camping. Katie was not about to complain. She looked on in fascination as they dismounted their horse in front of Old Hroldan Inn...

"Did you know Tiber Septim stayed here after he defeated an army of Reachmen?"

"Aye, supposedly," Vilkas nodded.

"It's true," Katie insisted, "if you stay the night in his old bed you meet the ghost of one of his soldiers and..." Katie trailed off feeling stupid. That was probably only what happened when the Dragonborn slept there...

"You've stayed here before?" Vilkas asked with raised eyebrows.

"No," Katie admitted, "I... uh... I just read about it."

"Well, I guess now you can see if it lives up to expectations," Vilkas smirked as they headed inside.

To Katie's disappointment there was no logical reason for them to rent Tiber Septim's room, and they each got a room with a single bed instead. Once she'd freshened up at the washbasin in her room, she met Vilkas in the tavern for some dinner.

He regarded her with a scrutinizing gaze as she approached and Katie wondered what she'd done wrong this time... she tried not to look intimidated as she sat down and the innkeeper's son brought them each a bowl of beef stew.

"So... Eagle-eyes," Vilkas began with a smirk... Katie had started to recognize that was the smirk he wore when he was about to require something particularly challenging of her and she nervously waited for him to continue... "this trip is supposed to be about proving you're worthy to be raised into the Companions... so I've got a couple questions..."

Katie swallowed nervously... Farkas never asked questions for her trial in the game... she had only actually completed the Companions quest line in a handful of playthroughs, but every time she played a warrior type character she always at least went through initiation to get the skyforge steel weapons. She had expected all she had to do was prove she was capable...

"Alright," Katie nodded. She tried not to let on how nervous he was making her, but the way Vilkas's smirk slowly became more smug looking, Katie knew he could tell. She really didn't like that smug smirk of his...

"Why did you want to join the Companions?"

"Uh..." Katie had to think... "because Farkas said I should," she shrugged, "and, I guess after traveling with Summer I realized I didn't want to just go back to the homestead, so, I listened to him," she explained with another shrug.

"I see," Vilkas nodded. He was quiet for several more moments before he picked up his tankard and took a long drink. Then, "how long were you traveling with the Dragonborn?"

"Only about two weeks actually," Katie admitted. Vilkas looked surprised by that.

"Did you know each other before?"

"Not exactly... no."

"And yet she comes to you for advice on everything she should do next?" Vilkas asked suspiciously.

"I... uh... well, we made it out of Helgen together," Katie shrugged, "fiasco like that makes you build trust quickly."

"How did you end up in Helgen?"

Katie couldn't think of any reason she couldn't answer that truthfully... "I was out on my family homestead," she sighed, "living like a hermit out in the middle of nowhere, when some imperial soldiers showed up, and assumed I was setting up a safe house for Ulfric or something. So even though I had nothing to do with anything, they dragged me out of my bed and threw me on a prison wagon to go to Helgen for execution."

Vilkas's eyes widened in surprise, but his brow also furrowed. "So the imperials just pulled a random woman out of her home and decided to execute you because they could?" Vilkas asked in outrage.

"Pretty much..." Katie nodded.

"And what of your family?" He asked, sounding concerned.

"They weren't there."

"Have you heard from them since?"

"No, they... they're not in Skyrim," Katie shook her head trying to think how to be truthful without sounding insane... "honestly I'm not sure I could really say where they are, I've been on my own for... a while."

"I see..." Vilkas nodded, his brow still furrowed. "Did they hurt you? The imperials I mean..."

"Aside from beating me over the head, tying me up, and tossing me on a wagon," Katie shrugged, "I don't think so..."

Vilkas took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Have the imperials given you any trouble since?"

"No," Katie shook her head, "pretty sure the ones who dragged me out of bed didn't survive the dragon attack."

"Alright," he sighed, "what were you doing before you were dragged out of your home?"

"Living like a hermit on the homestead," she shrugged. That was at least something she could be honest about...

"Why?" Vilkas asked in surprise.

"Because I could," she shrugged, trying to think how much backstory she could explain without him thinking she was crazy, "my brother married my childhood best friend... which would have been great except that they moved away. Then my parents' business picked up so they've been away... and... everyone else was so busy... my brother studied architecture and has a good job, all I did was study history... no job, nothing useful... turning into a hermit and running the homestead just felt like all I was good for." Katie suddenly realized she had tears forming in her eyes at that admission and quickly blinked them away, but she was sure Vilkas saw them... she hoped it wouldn't prompt questions she couldn't answer...

But Vilkas just cocked his head at her in confusion, and seemed to consider her carefully for several moments. Katie had the uncomfortable suspicion he was contemplating whether or not she had passed whatever test this was supposed to be...

"Do you want to go back?" He asked curiously.

"Honestly, no," Katie admitted... and she realized just how true that was... she missed her family, but the thought of leaving Skyrim now just filled her with dread... she honestly didn't feel like she could go back to normal society now...

"Well," Vilkas sighed finally, "I'm glad. I think you make a much better Companion than hermit. Dinner's on me, you earned it," he smirked.

"Wait, are you saying I passed?" Katie asked in surprise.

Vilkas chuckled, "I've seen you face down two dragons and a draugr overlord now, you passing wasn't the question. Mostly, I was just curious."

"You ass," she grumbled, "got me nervous thinking I'm being interrogated or something."

"Made you take me seriously," Vilkas chuckled, "can't have you being a smart ass all the time."

Katie rolled her eyes, but her heart still raced excitedly and she couldn't help but smile... she was going to be able to stay with the Companions... and Vilkas didn’t sound like he was looking down on her now...  
  


***

When they got back to Jorrvaskr and they had her formal initiation, Katie was disappointed that Farkas and Summer hadn't managed to be there for it. She was also a little disappointed to learn that the lines Farkas spoke in game were standard ceremony lines that whoever was doing the speaking was expected to say, and not something sweet he'd thought up just for initiating the Dragonborn.

Hearing Vilkas proudly declaring he would stand at her back and that his sword was ready to meet the blood of her foes gave her goosebumps though. Katie realized she really had made a genuine friend of the grumpy twin... he could be harsh and infuriating, but he was reliable... he really did have her back that whole trip...

Katie suddenly felt bad for the way she'd run off without him to meet Farkas and Summer, but she wasn't able to dwell on that for long. As soon as Kodlak concluded the ceremony, she was ushered into the mead hall where there was a full feast set across the table. Tilma had apparently cooked and prepared an entire deer, along with a couple of chickens and pheasants. There were sides of potatoes, several grilled vegetables, bread, and cheese... and of course there was mead for everyone.

Torvar threw an arm across her shoulders as soon as she got to the table, congratulated her, and handed her a mug of mead. Katie was pretty sure he smelled like he'd gotten started on the mead without them. Ria was quick to pull out a chair for Katie and then sit beside her, but before Torvar could sit in the chair on Katie's other side, Vilkas pulled it out from under him.

The whole hall burst into laughter as Torvar tumbled across the floor, cursing about his chair escaping. When he looked up and saw Vilkas with the chair he rolled his eyes.

"Oh so it's your chair now... fine, fine..." Torvar grumbled, "just don't get into a grappling match over dinner..."

Athis snorted at that, and Katie thought Vilkas might deck both of them. She also thought the idea of Torvar trying to grapple Vilkas over a chair would be a horribly one sided fight...

"Go drink some water, you're drunk," Vilkas growled irritably at him. Torvar just rolled his eyes again and went at sat on Ria's other side. Then Vilkas sat down beside her.

"It's your night, I figured you didn't need to be dealing with that drunk," Vilkas explained with a small smirk.

"Thanks," Katie nodded, "its definitely easier to relax when I know no one's going to get handsy with me."

Vilkas gave a chuckled nod, but his face settled back to his familiar scowl for a moment before he picked up his drink.

Katie hadn't eaten so much food since showing up in Skyrim. She cut herself off after three drinks and discretely asked Tilma to start bringing her waters. Fortunately Vilkas's scowl didn't last long, he was one of the first to volunteer to tell a story, and the whole mead hall listened attentively while Vilkas described their most recent fight with a dragon... Katie was pretty sure he embellished a little as he told them all she had shredded the dragon's wings with arrows, causing it to veer and crash into the ground, just as it was bearing down on him. Katie had been pretty sure it was Summer's lightning bolt that brought the dragon down, but she wasn't about to correct him. It was nice to hear her usually rough trainer speaking so highly of her... it gave her a warm feeling and made her smile...

The next morning Katie was informed that Vilkas would still be her primary trainer... apparently her initiation changed absolutely nothing except that now Eorland would make her a new sword... she tried not to let Vilkas see that she was a bit grumpy about that, but he seemed to pick up on it anyway... like he always did... and he looked ready to make her work till she dropped.

“Come on Eagle-eyes,” he yelled as she came back from Eorland, “show me what you can do with some proper steel!”


	9. Frost Fall

The next couple of weeks passed almost the same as the previous few had. Katie took a few more jobs of her own... the weather got colder... Summer and Farkas hadn't come back in a good while, and Katie was pretty sure they'd be either in the middle of the Thieves Guild quest line, or the Mages' College.

Vilkas was still as rough on her in training as usual, but Katie was coming to find she really could handle it... she was noticing the training was paying off. She was slower to break a sweat, everything ached less, and despite the hardy meals Tilma prepared, she had to make a few adjustments to her armor and some of her clothes as she lost body fat and gained muscle tone. She realized she really was thrilled to be a Companion instead of a waitress...

Then one morning a few days into Frost Fall, Katie and Ria were armored up and packed for their weekly hunting trip. To Katie's surprise, they were actually ready to go before Vilkas joined them upstairs.

"That's strange," Ria commented, looking around the dining hall.

"Hunting trips are usually the only thing he doesn't sleep in for," Katie agreed looking around in confusion as well.

"Should we go back down and wake him up?" Ria asked uncertainly.

"I'm not going in his room," Katie shook her head, "what if he sleeps in the nude?"

"That sounds more like a good excuse to go in there..." Ria joked, elbowing Katie in the arm.

"Ria!" Katie elbowed her back in shock. Ria just giggled. "Alright, _you_ can go in there then! I'm not," Katie shook her head.

"Oh no," Ria protested, " _I'm_ not the one who could get away with it."

"Like I am?"

"You get away with everything with Vilkas," Ria rolled her eyes.

"How do you figure?" Katie argued, "he takes everything out on me in the training yard! Besides, _I'm_ not the one who wants to see that..."

"You sure about that?" Ria teased.

"You were the one who said it sounded like a good excuse!" Katie flustered.

"Because you thought of it," Ria giggled.

"Thought of what?" Vilkas's voice suddenly startled both of them as he seemed to materialize behind them instead of coming up the stairs. Katie and Ria both jumped and spun around to find an amused and curious looking Vilkas... who appeared to have just come in from outside...

"Where the fuck did you come from?" Katie snapped in bewilderment, which just made Vilkas laugh.

"I had an errand to run," he chuckled, "what were you two arguing about?"

"Nothing," Katie grumbled quickly.

"We thought you were still asleep," Ria added, also looking a little embarrassed.

"So what did that make you think of, Eagle-eyes?" He asked with a smirk.

"Nothing," Katie grumbled again. Why couldn't he pick on Ria for once?

"You're awfully red in the face for nothing," Vilkas teased.

"We were debating if we should go wake you up, geez!" Katie groaned, "don't we have somewhere to be?"

"Aye," Vilkas nodded, still chuckling, "I've packed lunch, let's go."

To Katie's, and seemingly also Ria's, relief Vilkas actually did drop the matter and they were heading out of Whiterun only a short while later. The crisp morning air gave Katie goosebumps and she was glad they were heading south. The continued on south of Riverwood and trekked into the forests along the river banks. Katie loved these hunting trips... they reminded her of bow hunting out on her parents frontier property back home.

Ria wasn't as bad with a bow as her in-game dialogue would suggest, and Vilkas was quite good himself... Katie really enjoyed hunting with them.

By the time they were ready to stop for lunch, their enchanted game bag was carrying several pheasants and rabbits, but they were hoping to bag a deer before heading for home...

They had a peaceful lunch by the lake before setting back off. It was mid afternoon when they finally caught sight of a deer, but Katie never got a clear shot before it got spooked and took off towards what appeared to be the ruins of an old tower. Ria chased after it, and Vilkas called out too late for to her to wait...

"Damn it, that tower'll have bandits inside no doubt," Vilkas cursed as he took off after her.

Katie felt the horrible dread settle in her stomach. She'd mostly managed to avoid killing people... it still made her sick.

She followed as Vilkas scrambled to keep up with Ria around several boulders and up what might have been an animal trial in the woods.

Katie froze a moment later when she heard a gruff voice chuckle, "now ain't this a surprise?"

She swapped to her orchish arrows as quickly as she could, and tried to scramble down the hill where she could get a clear shot at the bandits...

She heard the clashing of steel and Vilkas's angry battle yells before she saw them... there were three bandits, one in hide armor engaged with Ria, two in iron armor facing off with Vilkas... no... one facing off with Vilkas... Katie couldn't decide if she was impressed or disturbed as suddenly Vilkas kicked one bandit backwards and then used his momentum to catch the other off guard and cleave his head clean off. There was also so much more blood than there ever was is game.

Katie was pretty sure she was going to be sick, but then a glint of metal caught her eye up in the tower... from one of the windows... an archer was lining up a shot at Vilkas.

Her reservations about killing a person were forgotten almost immediately and without hesitation Katie lined up and took her shot first. The man's arrow fell harmlessly from his bow as he toppled dead out of the window with an orchish arrow through his eye and into his skull. Moments later Katie saw motion toward the top of the tower and ducked out of the way as an iron arrow flew towards her. Katie saw the woman in fur armor with a long bow readying her next shot... Katie took aim but then had to jump aside as the woman on the tower fired first... but then Katie was able to re-aim much quicker than the bandit could reload, and one more archer wasn't a problem.

When she looked back to Ria and Vilkas in front of tower, all three of the other bandits were dead, and nothing else moved. Vilkas had entirely disemboweled the other man and had blood splattered all across his armor. Katie could smell the blood from several yards away and was immediately sick to her stomach. Vilkas sheathed his sword and Katie heard him turn to yell at Ria...

"Damn it girl! Did you not see the abandoned looking tower?"

Ria uttered some kind of apology and Vilkas kept yelling, but Katie wasn't listening, she turned to lean against a boulder and promptly threw up all the lunch she had eaten. That unpleasant process lasted several moments until all she could do was dry heave.

When her body was finally convinced that it had rid itself of everything in her upper digestive system, Katie realized she was on her hands and knees in the grass, with one large calloused hand at the base of her neck holding back her hair, and another gently rubbing her back.

"There you go," Vilkas was saying quietly, "it's alright..." then louder to apparently Ria, "no, just get her some water, she's alright."

Katie leaned back shakily... great, she thought, if he didn't think she was weak before he certainly would now...

"Are you sure?" Ria asked, "she's pretty pale..."

"Aye," Vilkas nodded. "Come on Eagle-eyes, you're ok," he added gently, then to Ria again, "go see if there's anything worthwhile in that tower, and see if you can collect her arrows."

"Alright," Ria sighed before turning away.

"Not a fan of bandits I take it?" He asked gently a few moments later.

"You could say that," Katie choked out. Vilkas handed her a rag and a water skin and Katie gratefully drank and wiped her face... thank God she'd managed to throw up entirely in the grass and not get any of it on her armor.

"Some history?" He asked sympathetically.

"N-not exactly," she sighed, "I'm sorry... I... I just don't like actually killing people..." she admitted. "I mean, I have no problem doing it if it's them or me, or them or you, or... you know... defense..." she added nervously, "but..."

"It's alright," Vilkas said quietly, "Farkas used to get just as sick at the blood shed when we were whelps. If you enjoyed killing people I supposed you might have to be one of those damned assassins instead of a Companion... there's no honor in murder... but the gods themselves couldn't fault you for defending your shield-siblings... and judging by that archer who hit the ground over there," he added, nodding toward the man she'd shot out the window, "I suspect you saved me from an arrow in the back, so thank you," he smiled.

Katie just nodded and gave him a weak smile in return.

Katie drank the rest of the water and began to feel considerably better, now she just had to deal with an empty stomach and the exhausted feeling that typically followed an adrenaline rush.

"How many arrows did you shoot?" Ria asked several moments later, "because I can only find two..."

"Two," Katie smirked. Vilkas just raised his eyebrows looking impressed at that. He looked more impressed when Ria showed him the coin she'd gotten off the five bandits.

"Alright, lets just head for home," he suggested, "we've got enough coin to buy Tilma some beef, we can forget the deer."

"Sounds good to me," Ria nodded. Katie certainly didn't feel up for arguing.

The hike back to Jorrvaskr made her feel considerably better, but also considerably more tired. To Katie's relief the only mention of the bandit fight had been Vilkas bragging over dinner about how well both she and Ria had faired; Ria defeating a man nearly twice her size and Katie firing two arrows and taking out two bandits. She managed to enjoy some dinner and found her stomach had finally settled. Then, finally, after a bath, she dropped into her bed and slept like the dead.

When Katie woke the next morning, all seemed normal as she stretched blearily before sitting up in bed. A small, simple wooden box on her nightstand caught her eye... it definitely hadn't been there the night before, and she didn't recognize it. Curiously, she picked it up... something metal sounding shifted inside... she opened the small box to find a folded piece of paper on top of a simple gold necklace.

Surprised and confused, Katie set the box on her bed and unfolded the paper. In simple but neat handwriting was a short note that simply said:

" _Katie, Happy Birthday_."

Katie blinked... she reread the note at least five times before the meaning registered, and she looked back to the necklace in the box.

It was a relatively thick but smooth gold chain with a simple, smooth gold pendant about the size of a half dollar coin... it had finely carved swirling patterns that reminded Katie of the designs on traditional Nordic steel armor. It was beautiful... simple, but beautiful... it shimmered slightly when she held it at different angles, and it felt warm in her hands.

"What've you got there?" Ria asked curiously.

"A gift it looks like," Katie replied, still staring at the necklace in disbelief.

"Ooh, who from?" Ria sat down on the bed beside her, looking at the necklace too.

"It doesn't say," Katie said handing Ria the note.

"It's your birthday??" Ria gasped.

"I have no idea," Katie shrugged, "what day is it?"

"It's like the fifth of Frost Fall... I think..." Ria said furrowing her brow thoughtfully.

"It's the seventh, dear," Tilma smiled in the door at them. She'd been sweeping out in the hall and Katie had noticed she eavesdropped on everything.

"Holy shit, it is my birthday..." Katie said in shock.

"Ooh! Happy Birthday!" Ria said excitedly.

"Oh deary, you should have told me," Tilma smiled, "I'd have cooked something special."

"That's ok Tilma," Katie smiled back, "actually I didn't even realize it was my birthday."

"If you didn't even remember, then who got you this?" Ria asked in surprise looking back to the necklace.

"Got what?" Njada asked sitting up grumpily.

"It's Katie's birthday and a secret admirer got her a gift," Ria explained.

"Secret admirer?" Katie repeated in shock, "I don't... I've never had a secret admirer..."she shook her head.

"Well it's not much of a secret if you know about it," Njada retorted. "Let me see that," she added gesturing to the necklace. Katie handed it to her and Njada looked it over with a scrutinizing eye. "Too simple a design to be an admirer," she shook her head, "unless he's either really cheap, or broke."

"So it could have been Torvar," Ria shrugged as Njada handed the necklace back to Katie. Katie's gut lurched uncomfortably at that thought... she didn't want to think of Torvar being her admirer... "wait a minute..." Ria said slowly looking more closely at the necklace in Katie's hands, "it's enchanted!"

"Nevermind, not cheap," Njada said raising her eyebrows in surprise.

"It's enchanted?" Katie repeated in shock, "what's the enchantment? What does it do?"

"Uh... I'm not exactly gifted in reading these things..." Ria shrugged, "but just based on the color of the shimmer I'd guess it has something to do with cold..."

"Let me see," Tilma smiled, putting her broom down and stepping into the room. Katie handed her the necklace and watched curiously as she examined it. "I believe this is Eorland's work..." she mused, "he makes them for Fralia to sell... she gets them enchanted sometimes... it's not simple to be cheap," Tilma explained looking impressed, "it's designed to be comfortable when tucked under your armor so it can be enchanted with something useful..." then Tilma furrowed her brow, looking surprised for a moment, and then confused before she just shook her head and handed the necklace back to Katie with a sympathetic smile. "But whoever got it doesn't seem to know his enchantments very well..." she sighed pityingly, "this, is what Fralia would call the 'necklace of the Nord'... it's enchanted to give its wearer the same cold resistance as a Nord."

"So it's useless to her?!" Njada laughed in disbelief... "that had to have been Torvar while he was drunk, I don't think even Farkas could have done something that stupid!"

"It's really the thought that counts," Ria added with a grimace, "I mean... if you weren't a Nord it would really be a useful gift..."

Ria kept talking but Katie wasn't listening... she felt like her heart stopped for a moment as she just stared at the necklace... there was only one person in Skyrim who knew she wasn't a Nord... and, Katie realized suddenly, he was also the only person she'd ever mentioned her birthday to...

"Except... I'm not a Nord," Katie admitted with a smile. Ria, Njada, and Tilma just looked at her in confusion as she put the necklace on.

"What in Oblivion else could you be?" Njada retorted in disbelief.

"You mean you can't tell?" Katie joked holding her arms out, "I'm a furless Khajiit, I lost my tail in the dragon attack!"

Njada rolled her eyes and Tilma chuckled quietly.

"So you figured out who got you the necklace?" Ria asked curiously.

"Yeah," Katie smiled looking down, gently touching the pendant as it hung against her chest... it gave her a warm feeling.

"Alright, so who's the admirer?" Njada asked in exasperation.

"No admirer," Katie laughed, "just a really thoughtful and reliable friend."

"Mmhmm..." Ria smirked skeptically, "does this 'friend' also happen to be a massive pain in the the ass?"

"Of course," Katie giggled. Njada and Ria both rolled their eyes and Tilma smiled as Katie grabbed her things and hurried to get dressed for the day. Njada made some retort as she was leaving but Katie didn't hear her.

Katie found Vilkas upstairs, just sitting down for his breakfast. Her heart jumped when she saw how his face shifted from his usual grumpy expression into a subtle smile when he saw her... and then into a bit of a fond smirk as his eyes fell on the necklace around her neck. Katie smiled back at him and was just starting to make her way across the dining hall to him when the front doors burst open...

Vilkas, Athis, Skjor, and Aela looked to the door with a start, Torvar stared in hungover confusion, and Ria and Njada hurried more quickly up the stairs.

Farkas paraded in, with Summer in his arms and a grin on his face.

"Hey, shield-siblings," he grinned, "meet your shield-sister-in-law!"


	10. The Mood to Celebrate

Everyone stared in shock for a moment... with the exception of the hood and mask, Farkas was decked out entirely in Nightingale armor, with an ebony sword and shield, and Summer was dressed in the Arch Mages robes, with the amulet of Mara still around her neck.  
"Well it's about damn time!" Torvar yelled, raising a tankard. Vilkas got to his feet with a shocked looking smile and hurried toward the pair.  
"That's wonderful!" Ria exclaimed excitedly.  
Farkas set Summer back on her feet as Vilkas hugged them both with a genuinely happy grin on his face. Katie could see he said some quiet words, no doubt of congratulations.  
"Well now I have to cook something special, Tilma flustered, but she smiled as she hurried off to the kitchen.  
"You married a mage," Skjor chuckled, but he raised his tankard with a grin as well.  
"He married the Dragonborn," Aela smirked, elbowing Skjor.  
"I married my love," Farkas grinned looking back to Summer, and Summer was absolutely beaming with joy.  
Katie realized she'd just been frozen in place, and she suddenly felt her eyes watering as she smiled at them... she quickly blinked back the tears and made her way forward to give Summer a hug and congratulate them as well.

Even Kodlak made his way upstairs to congratulate the new couple, and the rest of the day turned into an impromptu celebration at Jorrvaskr. Instead of training they hung out on the back porch, Summer showed off a few of her dragon shouts, while Farkas tried to convince an uncomfortable and skeptical looking Vilkas that not all magic was bad...  
Then after lunch Vilkas challenged Farkas to spar... no weapons, just a good brotherly fist fight for old time sake... Farkas enthusiastically agreed, taking the cape off of his armor before squaring up with Vilkas in the yard. Katie was pretty sure she caught Vilkas give her a quick wink before their fight started, but she definitely could have imagined it...  
Everyone was a little surprised when Vilkas actually won their first match, and Katie was pretty sure Vilkas actually did wink at her that time... Farkas took the loss with a good natured laugh and made an excuse about having worn himself out with his new wife the night before. Summer blushed profusely at that while Vilkas grumbled about not wanting to know...

Dinner wasn't as extravagant of a feast as Tilma would have typically prepared with more warning, but Katie was shocked the woman could put together so much food so quickly... thinking back to how Tilma had identified the enchantment on her necklace that morning, Katie was pretty sure Tilma used some kind of magic to help her keep up with the Companions...

After dinner there was one final toast to the happy couple, and then Farkas and Summer took their leave, heading back to Breezehome for the night. Katie didn't even remember buying Breezehome in her last playthrough, but then, she was starting to forget a lot of the details.  
The rest of the Companions seemed prepared to keep drinking and celebrating the rest of the night, but Katie slipped away and retreated to the baths. Finally alone, she sank into the hot water and cried. She wasn't even sure exactly what she was crying about anymore... she just knew her heart hurt. She thought she was over Farkas... he didn't make her heart race anymore, and it made her happy to see him and Summer smiling so much, but... at the same time her heart just ached...  
Loneliness... that's what it was... things always turned out like this... even on her birthday, Katie was just the afterthought. It was never intentional or spiteful, just like when Mandy and David has started wanting to spent time alone together... she wasn't intentionally left out... she just was. Farkas and Summer hadn't even had any idea it was her birthday... hell, she hadn't even known it was her birthday... until Vilkas had gotten her that gift...  
Katie reached out of the water and picked up the necklace... she hadn't even gotten a chance to thank him. It really was one of the most thoughtful gifts she'd ever gotten... though, he probably just wanted to make sure he wouldn't have to set up camp alone the next time they took a long hunting trip or something.  
She spent and least an hour in the bath and just cried until the tears stopped coming. Her heart still ached, but as she washed her face and climbed out of the water, she did feel at least a little better. She shivered as she dried off, wondering if the blue dress she'd grabbed for sleeping in was going to be warm enough, but as soon as she put her new necklace back on the chill left her. She sighed as she brushed out her hair. She'd have to be sure to thank Vilkas, but that could wait. Right now all she wanted to do was steal a few bottles of mead from Tovar's drawer, and be sound asleep by the time anyone came back downstairs. She had no interest in rejoining the party.

Her private pity-party was disrupted a few drinks later by a soft knock on the door frame. Katie looked up in confusion to see Vilkas wearing a simple dark grey shirt with tan trousers... his face was washed and he was just watching her with a sad expression.  
"You know it's more fun to drink with your comrades upstairs," he commented evenly.  
Katie didn't even have the energy for banter... "sorry," she sighed, "I'm not in the mood."  
"What's wrong?" Vilkas asked. She couldn't read his expression, but he didn't seem to be in a much better mood than she was.  
"I... nothing," Katie grumbled, "I just want to wallow in my self pity, alone."  
She went back to her drink expecting Vilkas to leave, but he didn't. He stayed standing in the door frame watching her thoughtfully. Katie looked back at him... he always looked so angry...  
"My brother has a bar in his room," Vilkas said in a low voice when he finally spoke, "shall we go see what he left it stocked with?"  
"What?" That hadn't been remotely what Katie was expecting.  
"Come on," Vilkas nodded down the hall, "I doubt he'll miss it."  
Katie wasn't sure why, but she let Vilkas lead her down to Farkas's room...

"Let's see..." Vilkas said stepping behind the bar and examining the selection... "he's got some original Honningbrew... that's hard to find these days..." Vilkas handed her a bottle and opened one for himself. He sat down in front of the bar and took a long drink.  
Katie was still standing in the center of the room trying to wrap her mind around what was going on... she might have had a couple too many drinks already.  
"You know," Vilkas said with a slight smirk, "I was picturing you in that dress when I picked out that necklace..."  
Katie's heart jumped. How could she have forgotten to thank him?  
"Thank you," she smiled looking down at the necklace, running her fingers over the smooth designs, "it's easily the most thoughtful gift anyone's ever gotten me."  
"You've figured out what it does then?" Vilkas smiled... Katie thought he looked a little proud of himself.  
"Mmhmm," she nodded, "Tilma was able to tell by looking at it. Ria and Njada laughed because they thought I was a Nord of course..."  
Vilkas chuckled and rolled his eyes.  
"Ria thought it was from a secret admirer, but I figured out it was you," Katie smiled.  
"I see," Vilkas said in a low tone before going back to his drink.  
"Took me a minute to remember I'd told you my birthday," Katie added, "I'm impressed you remembered it."  
"I'm good with details," Vilkas shrugged, but Katie realized his smile was gone. Confused, she sat in the chair beside the bed and began to sip on her drink, trying to think why Vilkas had clammed up so suddenly. Vilkas downed an entire bottle before he spoke again.  
"So Eagle-eyes," he began in a sad tone once he opened a second bottle, "why aren't you in a mood to enjoy the company upstairs? Is it my brother and his new wife?"  
"N-no," Katie said with a slight start. Vilkas just looked at her with a skeptical expression, and Katie sighed, "I mean, not really... I'm happy for them... they're my friends, and I'm so glad they're happy together... Summer's been smitten with him since he helped us fight the first dragon. I'm glad he feels the same, and I'm glad they're together." Katie took a deep breath... "Honestly, I guess it just reminds me that I'm alone," Katie admitted with another sigh.  
"Would it help if I grew my hair out?" Vilkas asked bluntly. Katie looked up at him in surprised confusion... his expression was hard to read... he almost looked like he was joking, there was a slight smirk on his lips... but his eyes were sad, almost hurt looking...  
"Wha... n-no, your hair is fine..." Katie replied... she watched as his face shifted to a slightly more resigned expression... he still looked sad...  
It slowly dawned on Katie... he'd figured her out entirely... he knew she'd had a crush on his brother... and that made him... sad...?  
Her heart skipped as she looked back at his intense gaze... he was watching her... watching her try to make sense of him...  
He wasn't...  
He couldn't possibly...  
"For such a smart woman, Katie, I swear you can be as slow as my brother," Vilkas sighed shaking his head.  
Katie blinked and just stared at him while he downed another bottle of mead. Her hand went back to her necklace as her mind ran back over the way his smile had fallen when she'd dismissed the idea of the gift being from an admirer... the way he'd winked at her before sparing with Farkas... the way he'd smiled when he saw her wearing the necklace that morning... the way he usually teased her... the way he usually reacted when she trained with Farkas instead of him...  
Katie just couldn't believe it...  
Why would he be interested in her? She was nobody special...  
"Wh-why aren't you in a mood to enjoy the company upstairs?" She asked nervously.  
Vilkas took a deep breath and seemed to consider her seriously for a moment before taking another long drink. Finally he put the bottle down and sighed, "the company I wanted to enjoy left shortly after my brother did." He looked back at her with a sad but serious expression, "and then Ria told me she was crying in the bath..."  
Katie's heart jumped and she felt a blush rise up her cheeks... she wasn't misreading him... he actually meant her... she couldn't believe it... but, why did he still look so sad? She hated seeing him look that sad...  
Katie downed the last of her own drink and got up to approach him... but Katie was no werewolf, not even a Nord... the mead was beginning to get to her, and she stood up a little too quickly.  
The room wobbled as she tried to step forward and the next thing she knew Vilkas had gotten to his feet and caught her with and arm around her waist as she leaned against his chest. Her flailing arms had landed one across his shoulders and the other hand rested against his stomach...  
Katie had never been this close to him without his armor on... she had been well aware that Farkas was bulkier than his brother... but she realized now that that wasn't because Vilkas lacked in muscle... he was just a little leaner... she could distinctly feel his abs under his shirt, and his muscled arm holding her against his firm chest was making her feel a fluttering in the pit of her stomach...  
"S-Sorry," she said, blushing as she pulled her hand back from his abs... but he didn't loosen his arm around her. His free hand came up to gently sweep a few strands of her hair out of her face as he looked down at her in concern. The tenderness of the gesture and the intensity of his gaze made her heart begin to race... and then a smirk tugged at the corners of his lips and he raised an eyebrow at her.  
"You've either had a lot more to drink than I realized, or that worked a lot better than I'd hoped it would..."  
"Shut up," Katie said, blushing profusely, "I... I just st-stood up too quick and..." she trailed off as Vilkas chuckled and helped her sit on the barstool beside his, but the smile on his face was short-lived...  
"The truth is..." he said, sadly reaching for another bottle, "that day we fought the dragon at the watchtower was also the day Farkas fell for Summer... but my brother wasn't the only one who fell for a beautiful woman that day."  
Katie cocked her head at him in confusion... he couldn't mean...  
Vilkas sighed and went on, "I saw an amazing woman, fearless in the face of the most terrifying beast I'd ever seen... shooting into the sky, unwavering, while the Jarl's trained men ran and pissed themselves..." Vilkas spoke almost in an awed tone... in a voice that was sweet and tender... but so full of hurt... "but she never saw me looking at her... I just had to watch her stare after my brother. It feels like that's all I've been doing these last months... watching the woman I love long for my brother... with no idea that I long for her..."  
Katie just stared back at him in shock, trying to process what she was hearing... someone had actually noticed her and not Summer... and not just someone, Vilkas... even back then, before she'd joined the Companions... he'd noticed her?  
Katie's heart jumped in pace... Vilkas still looked sad and hurt... and he was starting to look more than a little drunk... but his eyes never left hers... he reached out and took her hand... Katie gently squeezed his calloused fingers, hardly daring to hope she'd understood him correctly.  
"My heart breaks every time I see the way you look at him... I just can't stand to let you cry like that over my clueless brother..." Vilkas's voice was almost a whisper now, and Katie wasn't sure she could breath. Vilkas leaned forward and gently brought his other hand up to cup the side of her face. "Katie," he whispered sadly, "I know you wanted my brother but, please... please let me love you instea—"  
He was cut off when Katie leaned forward and kissed him.  
Vilkas was so quick to wrap an arm around her waist as he kissed her back he very nearly knocked himself off the barstool.  
Katie wrapped her arms around his neck as Vilkas's hand tangled into her hair. He kissed her desperately, holding her as if he was afraid this would be the only chance he ever got.  
Katie felt like several pieces of a large puzzle had suddenly fallen into place... the warm feeling she got in her chest when she thought about how he took care of her on her trial... the way her heart raced when he teased her... the fun way she could banter with and tease him... the pride she felt when he complimented her and told stories of her to the other Companions...  
She'd never actually had any of that with Farkas... she cared about him... he was an attractive, friendly man... but... Vilkas was something entirely different...  
His kiss was fire and passion, but Katie could also feel the relief and eagerness as his tongue slid along her own. His beard was rough, but his lips were smooth, and he tasted like mead. Katie felt like she'd been an absolute moron.  
When they naturally broke for air Vilkas kept his arms firmly around her, resting his forehead against hers, just catching his breath.  
"Vilkas..." Katie breathed, "I... I don't want to be with Farkas."  
She heard Vilkas's breath catch in his throat and he pulled back just enough to look her in the eyes. His expression was confused but hopeful now...  
"You... don't want my brother?"  
"I thought I did at one point," Katie admitted, "but I've been getting over him since I realized he loves Summer."  
"I'd hoped you were," Vilkas sighed, "but when Ria told me you were crying... I thought..." he trailed off as Katie shook her head.  
"I just felt alone," she sighed, "Farkas is a good man and a genuine friend, but I think I could enjoy being with his twin much better..." she smiled up at him and Vilkas just looked into her eyes, searching her face with a surprised, hopeful smile. "Can... can you forgive me for being so slow to catch on?" She added a little sheepishly.  
Vilkas's face broke into a genuine grin at that. "Aye," he chuckled, "I think could enjoy making sure you don't have to feel alone," he said happily before he pulled her back into a passionate kiss.


	11. Morning

Katie woke the next morning with a splitting headache, laying on a slightly musty pile of furs on a bed she didn't recognize. What a miserable end to a lovely dream, she thought grumpily. The room was mercifully dark, but she could tell it was morning from the sounds of the other Companions clanking about with weapons and armor as they got ready for their day. For a moment she thought she'd gone to bed in her corset, but then she remembered she only owned one corset and she definitely had no memory of wearing it last night... she tried to remember where she was... she remembered drinking alone in her room, hoping to be passed out asleep before anyone else came down from the party... she'd dreamed Vilkas had come in and taken her to Farkas's old room and told her that he loved her... her heart clenched painfully, it was going to be difficult to face him after a dream like that... she'd dreamed of kissing him... of feeling so warm and secure in his arms. In her dream he'd so desperately wanted her... it was surprising and sweet, and just... everything she'd wanted... how the hell was she going to look him in the eye when they sparred now?

The ache in her heart was not helping the throb in her head... she needed a healing potion to at least help with the hangover...

But as Katie tried to roll over she suddenly realized the thing constricting her midsection was a large, muscular arm...

Katie would have jumped with a start but her head hurt too much to move quickly. How the fuck had she gotten drunk enough to end up in a man's bed? Even in college she'd never gotten that dunk, she wasn't that type of girl! What actually happened last night? Where even was she?

Trying not to panic, she tried to pry the arm off and roll over, but that just prompted the man to groan in protest and pull her closer to his chest. He smelled like mead, musk, cedar... and just a bit like a wild animal... if her head wasn't pounding so hard Katie was sure she'd recognize the smell, but at the moment all she could think of was getting away. She pushed against his firm chest and tried again to squirm away.

"Katie..." Vilkas's tired voice groaned. Katie froze... her heart began to race... "What's wrong?" He asked in a grumbled voice that still sounded half asleep.

"Vilkas?" She whispered in disbelief...

"Aye, who else would I be?"

"I... I wasn't dreaming?"

At that she felt a low chuckle rumble through his chest and he wrapped his other arm around her and rolled onto his back, pulling her on top of him. Her knees hit the bed on either side of one of his legs, and she propped herself up slightly with her arms against his chest. Her head swam painfully with the motion but the sight of Vilkas smiling up at her with his eyes just barely glinting in the dim light made her breath catch in her throat.

"You saying you have dreams like last night?" He asked with a grin. Katie's heart skipped and she began to take mental stock of herself, still trying to remember what happened... her dress was a bit ruffled, but it wasn't pulled up past her knees, and she was pretty sure she still had her undergarments... Vilkas's shirt was completely unlaced at the top, but he was still wearing it, and he still wearing his pants... she still wasn't sure where they were...

"Katie..." his voice was suddenly very serious, and his expression looked sad... almost fearful... " _please_ tell me you remember last night..." he whispered.

"I... I don't remember ending up in bed," she admitted nervously.

"But you remember that I love you?" He asked, and Katie was sure he actually looked afraid.

"Yes," she assured him with a smile, "that's the part I thought was a dream..."

He sighed in relief and moved his hand up to run through her hair but she winced at the slight movement of her head.

"...and I have the hangover of the century," she added with a grimace, "please don't make me do anything today?"

"No," Vilkas chuckled gently, "I don't want to do anything today except hold you and talk... I have... some things I wish to discuss..." he shifted to sit up, and rolled Katie gently off of him, "but first... let me see if I can find you a potion for that hangover..."

Katie felt too sick to watch or even try to pay attention to what he was doing and just buried her face in the bed. The musty smelling furs didn't help and she soon picked her head up gagging.

"Easy now," Vilkas said gently coming back to her side. He helped her sit up and gently pressed a potion bottle into her hands. "Drink if you can, it should help," he said gently rubbing her back.

Katie almost gagged on the awful medicinal flavor of the healing potion, but she managed to choke it all down.

"Thank God," Katie groaned and leaned against Vilkas as the jackhammer inside her skull slowly subsided.

"Any better love?" He asked in a low tone with his arm around her.

Katie's heart jumped at the term of endearment... it really wasn't a dream... Vilkas... Vilkas was holding her... _Vilkas loved her..._

"Yeah," she sighed, "thank you."

"Now," he smirked bringing his other hand up to sweep a few strands of her hair away from her face, "how much do you remember?"

"I..." Katie took a shuddered breath and blushed, "I remember kissing you... at the bar in Farkas's room..."

"So you don't remember all the things you said to me?" Vilkas asked with a smirk that made Katie's heart skip again.

"I remember telling you that I want to be with you and not Farkas..."

"Mmm," Vilkas hummed and kissed the side of her head, "and do you remember how happy that made me, love?"

"I... I think I remember the gist of it..." Katie nodded hesitantly... she remembered the look on his face... and the way he'd kissed her...

Vilkas chuckled, "so I take it you don't remember nearly panicking and telling me you're a virgin when I backed you into the bed?"

Katie's eyes went wide and she felt her cheeks flush in embarrassment... "oh God I didn't..."

"It was adorable," Vilkas chuckled. "I take it you also don't remember how shocked you were when I told you I am too..."

"N- wait... what?" Katie had started to shake her head but then stopped to stare at him in surprise, "you are?"

For a moment Vilkas just laughed. It was a deep hearty laugh, and Katie didn't think she'd ever seen him quite that happy. "Aye, that was your reaction..." he said between laughs. Finally he began to catch his breath... "why is that so hard to believe, love?"

"I... I don't know..." Katie shrugged, "just... the way you tease and flirt... and..." she paused and blushed, "the way you kiss..."

Vilkas grinned wolfishly at her. "I'll admit," he chuckled, "I did get pretty good at winking and talking dirty to the barmaids in order to get a few free drinks... and I may have kissed a few of the particularly attractive ones..." he smirked, "but... a wolf mates for life..." he added in a low tone, leaning down to rest his forehead against hers, "no one's met that standard before." He leaned further down and Katie took a shuddered breath as he kissed the side of her neck. But then he pulled back and sighed, "but speaking of standards," he chuckled, "I would much rather have the rest of this conversation in my room... where I don't have to smell my brother on everything..."

"Alright," Katie giggled, "so that's where we ended up..."

"Aye," Vilkas nodded, "I must have been more drunk than I thought..." he groaned and got to his feet, then he reached down for Katie's hand, and gently pulled her to her feet. "Can we go wash up and meet back in my room?" He asked hopefully.

"I can do that," Katie nodded.

"Good," Vilkas smiled, "I'll get us some breakfast and we can discuss what you remember once we don't smell like my brother."

He kissed her once more before they made their way out the door and Katie was suddenly very relieved to not see the rest of the Companions in the downstairs. She went to her bed in the common room and collected another of her simple dresses, a lighter blue than the one she was wearing, with what looked like a leather corset. It hung lower in the front too... actually Katie wasn't sure she'd ever worn this dress around Jorrvaskr before...

When she got into that women's bath Ria and Njada were there, just getting armored up for the day. They both looked at her in surprise for a moment and Katie felt instantly self conscious and embarrassed.

"What?" She grumbled setting her things down and preparing to get in the bath.

"So... Vilkas... right?" Njada smirked.

"What makes you assume that?" Katie asked, trying keep her expression neutral.

"Neither of you were in your beds last night," Njada shrugged, still smirking knowingly.

"You looked in Vilkas's room?" Katie asked in disbelief.

"Had Skjor do it," Njada shook her head.

"Vilkas got so worried last night when you took off right after Farkas and the Dragonborn did, and when I told him I'd found you in here he was so upset, we knew he had to have something to do with where you went," Ria explained.

"So, who finally made the first move, new blood, you or him?" Katie jumped as Aela walked in behind her.

"Wha—"

"Don't bother denying it," Aela chuckled, "Skjor and I already figured out exactly where you two were last night..."

"So... who made the first move?" Njada repeated, still smirking.

"Does it matter?" Katie grumbled. She was sure her cheeks were bright red now.

"Ooh, did he finally confess his feelings and make you swoon into his arms?" Ria asked excitedly.

At the same time Njada snapped, "yes it matters, we've had a betting pool going for weeks!"

"You've what??" Katie nearly fell over.

"Well," Aela shrugged, "neither of them smell like sex, so that's me, Skjor, and Torvar out of the running."

"What???" Katie snapped in shock, "alright, who the fuck is betting on what?!"

"I bet you'd be a woman of action, finally figure it out and go make your way into his bed," Aela shrugged, "Skjor bet Vilkas would get tired of being patient, pin you down somewhere and take you... and Torvar bet you'd both get drunk and wake up naked in a bed somewhere."

"Holy shit," Katie groaned, covering her face with her hands, "yeah, you all lost."

"I mostly agreed with Skjor," Njada added, "just didn't think he'd go all the way to sex right off... Athis mostly agreed with Aela with the same exception, and Ria—"

"I bet he'd quit beating around the bush and confess his feelings in a sweet and romantic way that was too blunt for you to misunderstand!" Ria interrupted with a hopeful smile.

"Holy shit," Katie grumbled again, "how many of you were in on this?"

"Well, Kodlak, Tilma, and Vignar didn't want to put money on it, but Kodlak and Tilma agreed with Ria, and I think Vignar agreed with either me or Skjor..." Njada continued, "Brill's the only one who didn't really weigh in."

Katie groaned and covered her face, "it was that obvious?"

"To everybody but you," Ria giggled.

"In all the years I've known him, you're the only one who's given him an obvious boner while sparing or grappling," Aela snickered.

"I'd forgotten about that," Katie grumbled.

"So come on, we've got to know," Njada prompted, "who won the bet?"

"I'll get back to you on that..." Katie sighed grumpily as she pulled her dress off and got into the bath.

When she made her way back down the hall Vilkas was waiting for her in the small hallway between his room and Farkas's.

"I was starting to worry you weren't coming," he said getting to his feet looking relieved.

"Sorry," she sighed quickly, "I kind of got interrogated in the bath... did... did you know they had a betting pool on us?"

"Aye," Vilkas sighed, "or at least I do now. Skjor told me all about it when he found me this morning... he wanted to know who won."

"Any idea who that would be?" Katie asked tiredly, "I just told them I'd get back to them..."

"Probably Ria if I had to say," Vilkas shrugged. "Although..." he trailed off looking at her and Katie's heart jumped when she saw how his eyes trailed down along the neckline of her dress. "By Ysmir woman..." he shook his head, before looking back to her face, "if you'd worn dresses like that more often I think Njada might have won... maybe even Skjor..."

Katie’s heart skipped and she could feel her cheeks turning several shades darker, which made Vilkas chuckle.

“Come on,” he added with a smirk, “let’s have breakfast... there’s a few things I need to hear you say while sober before I get carried away...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is far from over, but my I’ve got family coming to town, so my updates are going to be a bit delayed for a bit as I’ll have less time for writing.  
> Thank you everyone for your positive feedback so far! :)


	12. Sober Discussion

Vilkas's room smelled cleaner and looked neater than Farkas's... he had a larger bed and the furs appeared to be much neater kept. He had a book shelf instead of a bar and a small desk with a plate of sweet rolls and a bowl of apples...

Katie didn't get a chance to make many more observations... Vilkas turned to her as soon as he shut the door and his mouth was on hers almost before he finished locking the door. It was a sweet, tender kiss that slowly grew more passionate and fiery until he released her lips and began trailing hungry kisses along her cheek and then down her neck that made Katie tremble.

"This is better..." Vilkas breathed between kisses, "you don't... smell like my brother..."

His breath and nearly growling voice against her neck gave her goosebumps. She took a shuddered breath and Vilkas paused. He pulled slowly back to look down into her eyes and took a deep breath... he looked like he was trying to regain control of himself... and then, he gave her another of those wolfish grins... "sorry love," he smirked, "almost got carried away anyway..."

"I honestly probably wouldn't mind if you did," Katie sighed with a smile. Vilkas took another deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Before I do," he said, looking at her more seriously, "as I said, there are a couple of things I need to hear you say while you're sober... especially since you don't seem to recall all the things you told me," he added with a smirk.

"Oh God, what did I say?" She asked nervously as he led her away from the door to sit in the chair beside his desk. He pulled the other chair over from the book shelf and sat down beside her.

"You surprised me, and gave me a lot to think about, love," Vilkas chuckled, which just made Katie's pulse jump more. "Eat something, you need something more than that potion in your stomach," he added, pushing the plate of sweet rolls closer to her.

Katie took one and ate it a little self consciously while Vilkas bit into an apple and watched her... he seemed to be thinking of what he wanted to ask first...

The sweet roll was a little sticky, and when she finished she had a little of the icing to lick off her fingers... when she finished she realized Vilkas had looked away from her...

"Vilkas," she asked with a raised eyebrow, "did I do something wrong?"

"Not in the slightest," he chuckled glancing back to her... she suddenly realized his cheeks had a bit of a blush to them... "I'm simply trying to work out how to ask you what I need to... but now half of my brain is debating if I want to give you another sweet roll and lick the icing off of you myself, or if I want to have the sweet roll and then have you lick icing off of me..." he smirked suggestively and Katie's heart skipped a bit quicker.

"Excuse me," she giggled, beginning to blush more than he was, "are you telling me you have such a dirty mind that a sweet roll is all it took to turn you on?"

Vilkas chuckled, "you have no idea what you do to me, love," he shook his head and then closed his eyes with a sigh, "but I can't keep putting this off..." he took another deep breath set the remaining half of his apple down before turning back to her.

"First of all," he began in a low tone, looking seriously into her eyes, "do you really know about the Circle's curse?"

Katie swallowed nervously and awkwardly wiped her hands on the lower folds of her dress before looking up and meeting his gaze... "I know you're a werewolf," she nodded seriously.

"And..." he hesitated like he was afraid to ask his next question, "are you really willing to be with a beast like me?" He whispered sadly.

"I am," she nodded, "I knew before I even came to the Companions, I wasn't sure I liked you at first, but you've earned my trust," she reached over and took his hand again, "and I want to be with you."

"You... you understand that means I'm not a proper Nord..." he said in a gruff, sad voice, "I'm tainted... I'm Hircine's beast..."

Katie gently squeezed his hand. "I'm not even a Nord at all," she shrugged, "I mean, the whole Hircine thing makes me worry about you and your happiness, but it's not going to run me off... I... I'll help you find the cure... if you want..."

Vilkas smiled in relief, "I was hoping you'd say something like that again." He looked like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders and Katie couldn't help but smile...

"I said all that while blackout drunk?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Much less eloquently, but essentially," Vilkas chuckled. "You seemed very convinced there is a cure... you seemed very convinced about a lot of things..."

Katie's heart skipped, "oh shit... what... what else did I say?" She asked nervously.

"I asked you how you knew about the beast blood... can you guess what you told me?" He smirked.

"I'm guessing I didn't try and tell you Farkas told me..." Katie whispered hopefully...

"Not exactly," Vilkas chuckled. "You said you had a secret too... that you're not from Skyrim..." he smiled, seeming to watch her reaction carefully...

Katie was pretty sure she'd gone a shade paler. Rambling drunk about where she came from had not remotely been her plan... her heart raced frantically as she watched Vilkas's expression for signs he thought she was crazy, or that she was a witch... or worse...

Instead Vilkas looked a little surprised and then leaned out of his chair to put a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down," he said placing a gentle kiss to her forehead, "I believe you," he leaned back to look her in the eyes again, "it's not the kind of lie a drunk person tells... and even drunk you told me you'd never told anyone before because you didn't want to sound crazy..." he ran his hand gently down her arm to hold her other hand in his. "I don't think you're crazy," he assured her, "I just want to know more... I want to know where you came from... I need to know what you want to do next..."

Katie took a deep breath... he didn't think she was crazy... so far at least, but she had no idea how much she'd told him. She'd almost started forgetting details about the real world— or other world as it was apparently... she'd never made sense of how she'd gotten to Skyrim. She wasn't sure she was comfortable admitting or trying to explain that Skyrim was a video game... that she'd played a game of their lives over and over again... especially since she'd married Farkas in almost all of those games...

"What... what did I tell you?" She asked nervously.

Vilkas sighed and sat back in his chair and picked his half-eaten apple back up.

"Why don't you start over and tell me what you want me to know, love?"

Katie swallowed nervously again... this felt like a test. She sighed... some things apparently just didn't change with Vilkas...

"W-well... I didn't lie about how I got to Helgen..." she began, "the thing is, I... I went to bed in my world, and was woken up being dragged out of bed by imperial soldiers... I honestly thought I was having a fever dream for at least a week..."

Vilkas listened attentively with his classic furrowed brow and finished his apple as Katie described her world that had technology instead of magic. She told him about her childhood and her family, and then about the pandemic and quarantine that had led her back out to the frontier house.

"So it's literally an entirely different plane of existence..." Vilkas said in slight awe.

"Apparently," Katie shrugged.

"I guess that explains how you could be the perfect picture of a Nord woman and yet not a Nord," he said with a subtle smirk as he set his apple core down on the plate.

Katie nodded nervously as she suddenly realized what a large part of her fears had been... "so you... you don't think I'm crazy... and..." she took a deep breath and blushed, "and you still want to be with me?" She asked hopefully... part of her was certain the last 12 hours were too good to be true... that he would surely want nothing to do with her now... that he would apologize and tell her last night was a mistake and ask her to leave...

But instead, he chuckled and gently squeezed her hand.

"Katie... my love," he smiled, "I wouldn't give you up now even if I did think you were delusional or even a liar..." he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it gently, still smirking at her, "and I don't think either of those."

Katie let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and Vilkas chuckled again at her obvious sigh of relief.

"Besides," he added, "I'd be a fool to let go of a woman who knows what I am and is still willing to have me... especially one as beautiful and impressive as you... Eagle-eyes..."

Katie's heart jumped at the way he looked at her as he said that... still holding her hand, he pulled her forward and Katie let him pull her out of her own chair and into his lap. One of his arms snaked around her waist while his other reached slowly up her back before running through her hair and pulling her down into a kiss. Katie wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back in relief. She was so sure this would turn out to be a dream, and she was terrified of waking up.

When they separated, Vilkas sighed again and leaned his forehead against hers. "The only thing that worries me, love, is if you came here so suddenly... what's to stop you unexpectedly vanishing from my arms and going back?"

Katie's heart lurched. "I don't know," she shook her head, "I've started being afraid of exactly that..."

"Do you want to go back?" Vilkas asked in a gentle but sad voice.

"I... I wish I could visit..." Katie admitted with a sigh, "I miss my family, but I want to stay here..." she leaned in and hugged him and he held her a little tighter in response. "I want to stay with you," she added quietly.

"With me, not my brother?" He whispered hopefully.

This time it was Katie's turn to lean back and look into his eyes with a gentle smile... he and Farkas were twins, they shared the same attractive face... but Katie was suddenly struck by just how much she loved seeing the rare genuine smile on Vilkas's face... how much that subtle smirk of his could set her pulse racing...

"Yes," she smiled, "with you. I care for Farkas just like I do for Summer; as a good friend, but you..." Katie's heart suddenly jumped and her breath caught in her throat as she realized what she'd been about to say...

She'd never been in love before... was this what if felt like? Safe, comfortable, and happy, while terrified all at the same time?

If she did get suddenly pulled back to her world she would miss Vilkas more than anything else... the thought of losing him was almost physically painful... Shooting the bandit that had been about to shoot Vilkas had been the first time Katie had been able to take a human life without hesitating or feeling remorseful, it didn't feel like killing a person, but defending... Katie swallowed... defending her love...

Somewhere in all the training, griping, teasing, and bantering, she'd fallen in love with him...

Katie blinked, looking down into the waiting, hopeful expression in his pale blue eyes...

"I love you," she said quietly, and she couldn't help but smile as she felt the blush rise up her cheeks.

Vilkas's eyebrows rose in happy surprise, and Katie was pretty sure that that hadn't been something she'd said while drunk... she felt him tighten his arms around her waist again and he began pulling her slowly down for another kiss, so she leaned back down and kissed him. She felt him smirk slightly before he began to kiss her back.

When they separated for air several moments later, Vilkas ran his fingers into her hair, combing it gently out of her face as he caught his breath...

"Marry me," he breathed, gazing seriously into her eyes.

Katie thought her heart might have stopped for a moment... "w-what?"

"Marry me," he repeated, his voice was more firm, but his eyes began to look more pleading, "surely the gods won't pull us apart if we're blessed by Mara... and I... I can't bear the thought of losing you..."

"You... you're sure?" Katie could only manage to whisper, she felt like her throat had gone suddenly very dry...

"Aye," he nodded, "I want to stand by your side until the divines take us... together, wherever that may be..." he spoke in a low tone that sent shivers down Katie's whole body... she felt herself nodding, but the words wouldn't come.

"Say something, love," Vilkas pleaded quietly, "is that a yes?"

"I..." she had to pause to take a deep breath, "yes, I will... b-but... i-in my world this would definitely be considered rushing things..."

"I can wait if that's what you want," Vilkas sighed, "but by Skyrim standards this has been a very long courtship," he added with a chuckle.

"Twelve hours?" Katie asked with a skeptically raised eyebrow.

Vilkas laughed, "I meant the last few months I've been trying to win your affection, love."

"Swinging a sword at my face and pinning me to the ground is your idea of trying to win my affection?" Katie retorted.

"You've got the heart of a Nord," Vilkas chuckled, then in a lower, husky tone he added, "I can smell that that gets your blood going..."

Katie shuddered... she hadn't thought about the idea of what a werewolf could hear and smell... she probably couldn't keep near as many secrets from him as she'd originally thought...

Her breath caught in her throat as he trailed his calloused fingers down the side of her face, along her jaw and to her chin. He gently tilted her face toward him and looked into her eyes with a sincere expression.

"If you feel rushed, love, we can wait... just tell me when and I'm all yours."

Katie smiled appreciatively... she couldn't believe she used to think he was nothing but a grumpy asshole...

"Let's go hunting," she suggested with a smile, "just us."

Vilkas raised his eyebrows in mild surprise and smirked thoughtfully at her, “alright,” he nodded, “anywhere in particular you want to go?”

“Summer said the Rift is really pretty this time of year...” Katie smiled.

Vilkas’s responding grin gave her goosebumps and a fluttering feeling of excitement in the pit of her stomach. If this was a dream she never wanted to wake up.


	13. Hunting Trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katie has to sort out the differences in wedding ideas and expectations between her world and Skyrim... because romance in Skyrim typically means rushing straight to marriage.  
> Some more awkward conversations need to happen...

Katie got her armor on and packed her tent and camping supplies with her mind in a happy fog. She replayed Vilkas's proposal in her mind over and over again... she still couldn't believe she'd said yes... not that she could imagine turning him down... maybe she was just still shocked he'd asked... hell, she was still shocked by this whole turn of events...

After all the years of guys only flirting with her after they'd been turned down by someone else... they always thought they were so smooth about it, but every time she went out to one of the bars, she almost always saw a guy get told off by some other girl before he tried his luck with her. Sometimes they tried to be sneaky about it, sometimes they were really obvious. Ever since high school... she still distinctly remembered how she'd been asked to prom after Mandy had told the guy she already had a date... she'd never been actually asked out before, so she'd agreed... she'd gone to her senior prom, and worn heels and makeup with the pretty dress. Her date didn't look half bad, but he was a horrible bore, and he got really grumpy when her answer was 'no' when he asked if she was going to 'put out'. She'd never made that mistake again; the guys that came to her as a second choice all got told no from the start after that. She hadn't had a lot of dates since...

The fact that Vilkas had taken notice of her and not someone else still felt too good to be true. She thought back over the last couple of months... she hadn't seen him flirt with any other woman... but he did admit to kissing the barmaids... she hadn't known him to go out drinking anywhere though, he was usually drinking at Jorrvaskr when he drank at all, she thought curiously...

Katie sighed as she finished packing... there were a lot more questions she'd need answered before they went to Riften...

She found Ria upstairs counting gold out of five separate coin purses.

"Oh, Vilkas said to tell you he'd meet you at the stables," Ria smiled knowingly and Katie tried not to blush, but then she suddenly felt a pang of guilt... Ria usually went with them on hunting trips... now she was getting left behind just like Katie used to when David and Mandy started dating, and just like she had when Summer had to choose between her and Farkas...

"Listen, Ria... I... I hope you don't feel left out," Katie began awkwardly.

"What? No," Ria laughed, "I won the bet, I'm going to treat myself to something nice..." she smiled again. "Have fun in the Rift," she winked. Katie definitely blushed at that...

"We're just going hunting..." Katie mumbled as she made for the door.

Vilkas was back in his steel wolf armor with his great sword on his back and his dark warpaint slathered over his eyes. He was just finishing saddling the large black stallion that seemed to be his favorite when he turned to see her approaching. Katie felt her heart speeding up as she noticed how the warpaint made his pale blue eyes stand out... they practically glowed with a silvery sheen... she'd long since noticed how intense his piercing gaze could be, but she hadn't realized he was still so attractive with the warpaint on...

Vilkas smirked as he saw her, and Katie remembered what he'd said about being able to smell that he got her blood going... she would bet he could smell -or hear, or whatever- the way her heart had sped up now... she wondered just how much he could sense...

"Sorry I didn't wait for you at Jorrvaskr, love," he smiled, "Torvar was going to have a broken nose of he didn't stop asking me questions..."

"What was he asking?" Katie giggled.

"Mostly trying to figure out if he could make any arguments to split the winnings with Ria since we were drinking last night," he grumbled.

"Ah..." Katie nodded. Then she suddenly made another realization... "We're riding?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, "you usually like to walk on hunting trips..."

Vilkas shrugged, "we can stable him in Ivrastead and walk through the Rift..." he glanced at her again, a subtle smile pulling at the corners of his lips, "and I might be looking forward to sharing a saddle with you again..."

Katie's heart skipped and his subtle smile shifted to a less subtle smirk.

"Should I have brought the sweet rolls?" She teased as she stepped forward to mount the horse. Vilkas's jaw fell slightly as he watched her with a wide-eyed expression that was somewhere between surprised and lustful...

"Did you?" He asked hopefully.

Katie giggled, "no, but I know where to buy some in Ivrastead."

She got her foot back out of the stirrup and moved forward in the saddle to make room for him. She was pretty sure she saw Vilkas lick his lips before he grabbed the saddle horn, got his foot into the stirrup, and slung himself into the saddle behind her.

It was much more obvious that he was intentionally wrapping his arms around her to hold the reins this time as he reined the horse around and they set out on the east road.

When they got well onto the road and out of view of any towns, Vilkas relaxed the reins and leaned forward to kiss the side of her neck. Katie let out a shuddered sigh and tilted her head to give him better access. The way he chuckled against her neck made her heart race... which seemed to further egg him on as he began to place open-mouthed kisses all down her neck.

"Vilkas...?" Katie breathed.

"Mmm?" He hummed.

"I... I was... wondering..." she paused to take a breath, his kisses were making it hard to think...

"What's on your mind, love?" He asked in a low, gentle tone.

"A-about the beast blood," she whispered, and she felt him tense just a little, "how much... or... what all can you sense? Better than a normal man can I mean..."

Vilkas chuckled and relaxed just slightly. "I can hear, see, and smell ten times better than a normal man..." he began, and Katie felt a slightly smug smile on his face as he kept his lips near the base of her neck... "I can hear your heart beat from all the way across the training ground... I can smell your blood pumping through your veins... I can smell the subtle differences in your blood when you're angry, or happy, or excited... or aroused," he paused and placed another kiss to her neck and Katie tried not to shudder, but she knew she had goosebumps again. Vilkas took a deep breath before continuing, "I can smell the way your body cycles..."

"Wait, what?" ...he couldn't mean what she thought he did...

Vilkas chuckled, "you never noticed certain days I'd conveniently only make you train archery?"

Katie blushed a dark red... he could smell when she was on her period... that was awkward... she wasn't sure how she felt about that... that was weird...

"Don't get embarrassed love," Vilkas interrupter her thoughts, "all the wolves at Jorrvaskr can smell that about every woman in the city... it's the way the body works. Nothing for you to be embarrassed by..."

"I... I guess not but... that's a bit weird by my world's standards..." Katie mumbled.

"Being a werewolf is a bit weird by any standards I'd wager," Vilkas sighed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean..." Katie started, but Vilkas cut her off with a gentle kiss to her cheek.

"I can also I tell that your favorite soap is made with lavender, and that you bathe twice as often as the other women at Jorrvaskr..." he chuckled.

"And now you’re complaining about my hygiene?" She interjected defensively.

Vilkas just chuckled harder, "not in the slightest..." he nuzzled his nose into the crook of her neck, "if I were complaining, I'd point out that I can also smell whenever you've gone out drinking with Ria and Torvar..." there was a slight growl to his voice as he said Torvar's name and Katie suddenly remembered her first night at Jorrvaskr... the way Vilkas had glared across the table at Torvar while he was drunk and leaning on her...

"Vilkas..." she smirked, "my first night at Jorrvaskr... were you jealous of Torvar?"

"Aye," he growled, making Katie's pulse jump, "and Farkas..." he admitted with a chuckle, "and every other man who got the privilege of standing too close to you..."

"Are you still?" She giggled as his beard tickled her neck.

At that Vilkas dropped the reins altogether and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and pulled her more tightly into his lap.

"Should I be?" He growled with a smirk before placing a particularly sensual open-mouth kiss at the base of her neck.

"No..." Katie shuddered.

"Good," he chuckled between kisses, "I was going to say... it doesn't smell... or taste... like I've got anything to worry about anymore..."

"You don't," Katie sighed. She leaned contentedly against him and was happy to just let him continue as he had been before she'd asked her question.

Then she suddenly remembered he'd dropped the reins as a tree branch came dangerously close to slapping her in the face. With a start, she sat forward, grabbed the reins and steered them back onto the center of the road. Vilkas tensed behind her for a moment at her sudden movement, but then just relaxed with another chuckle. Katie glanced back over her shoulder at him, and remembered another question she had...

"What about me?" She asked, trying not to look or sound as nervous as she felt.

"Hmmm?" Vilkas raised an eyebrow at her.

"Do I have anyone to be jealous of? You did admit to kissing the barmaids..." Katie tried to keep her voice steady and mildly accusing, but she was pretty sure Vilkas could tell she really was worried about his answer because he took a deep breath and his voice was serious when he replied...

"I have had eyes for only you, since I first saw you in battle," he said in a low voice. He ran his hands gently up her back and rubbed her shoulders. "All my trips to the Bannered Mare since that first dragon fight, I hoped free drinks and flirting barmaids would take my mind off of that beautiful, fearless archer I'd seen, but none of them hold a candle to you... I haven't been back to the Bannered Mare since you first came to Jorrvaskr."

Katie smiled. That explained why she hadn't known him to go out drinking... she actually, finally found a man who preferred the tough, rugged woman over the dainty girls who wore high heels and makeup... she never imagined she'd find a man who would find her attractive at first glance.

"You don't look like you believe me, love," Vilkas chuckled.

"I believe you," she sighed, leaning back against his chest with a smile, "I just can't believe I'm this lucky."

Vilkas leaned his head on her shoulder, chuckling, and then leaned back laughing.

"What's so funny?" Katie snapped in confusion.

"All my years of being this cursed beast..." he shook his head, "I always hoped I'd be able to convince a woman to have me once I found one that was worth the trouble... I never dreamed you'd think you were the lucky one..."

"I guess we’re both lucky," Katie smiled.

The rest of the ride they talked comfortably. She told him more about how she'd grown up, what school was like in her world, and how she'd studied her world's history... Vilkas was fascinated by the history, and kept asking questions, prompting her for more details. By the time they reached Ivrastead she'd explained from the American Revolution up to the Cold War. She was surprised by how interested he was, he asked questions, wanting names and details... he was impressed Katie knew all this without having lived through any of it. Of course the settling of the west was the part she knew best from doing the early settler re-enactments most of her life.

They stabled the horse and got lunch in Ivrastead before setting off into the autumn colored hardwood forest of the Rift. It really was pretty... Katie was reminded of the autumn colors in the Smoky Mountains back in her world.

They wandered into the forest, and Katie managed to shoot a couple of pheasants, but they honestly did more talking than hunting. Vilkas told her more about his childhood at Jorrvaskr. Katie was amused to learn that for every embarrassing story Farkas had about Vilkas, Vilkas had one just as good or better on Farkas.

When the sun got low in the sky they stopped and made camp. Katie built the fire and pitched the tent while Vilkas cleaned and dressed the pheasants. She was impressed at how well he cooked them actually... in Skyrim where one could have enchanted pockets and bags, he'd packed all the cookware he needed to make a rather good stew.

***

They spent several days just enjoying each other's company... hunting, camping, sharing stories, and laying out under the stars. Katie had expected him to pester her about when they'd go to Riften like a future spouse would in the game after she agreed to be married and then didn't go straight to Riften, but he didn't. He was mostly a gentleman... he made no secret of how much he wanted her... he liked to pull her into his arms every night as they sat by their campfire and kiss her anywhere her armor didn't cover... and he seemed to prefer sleeping with her held against him, but he never pushed further. He left the tent for her to take her armor off. He stood guard with his back to her when she washed up in the creek, though Katie was pretty sure he stole a few glances periodically.

As time went on Katie realized she absolutely loved the way he would wrap his arms around her, tuck his face against her neck, and sigh contentedly. She could feel how happy and comfortable she made him... how relieved he was that she'd finally caught on and returned his feelings... it warmed her heart and made her smile.

Finally, one evening, they were relaxing by their camp fire, Vilkas was lying back in the grass with his head on Katie's lap, and Katie found herself simply wondering what she was waiting for... she loved him... she had no doubt he loved her... that he wanted her...

Her mind began to wander to what she knew he wanted to do with her... she wondered if he'd be rough or gentle... how awkward and clumsy they would be... then she recalled how the myriad of fanfictions back in her world had portrayed him in bed... her heart began to pick up in pace at a few of those thoughts. She hadn't read many that involved only Vilkas... but she had stumbled across a few... Some of the ideas were quite arousing, others were terrifying.

Suddenly she was pulled from her thoughts as Vilkas let out a chuckle.

"What's on your mind love?" He smirked knowingly up at her and Katie blushed. Great, of course he'd notice her heart beat speed up...

Katie took a deep breath and let it out slowly. There wasn't a whole lot of point in lying to him...

"So... I'm curious..." she began hesitantly... "I read some... stories... in my word, uh... do... do werewolves have... mates?"

Vilkas raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Aye, in a manner of speaking," he nodded, "or they can at least... Skjor and Aela are mates..." he shrugged, "the only difference is they're bound under the blessing of Hircine instead of the blessing of Mara." Vilkas sat up slowly and looked back at her with a slight smirk. "Why do you ask my love?"

Katie blushed dark red and Vilkas chuckled more.

"What are you worried about?" He asked with a less subtle smirk. He reached up and ran his thumb gently along the side of her face.

"S-so there's no werewolf mating ritual that involves biting or anything like that, it there?" She mumbled uncomfortably.

"Not that I've ever heard of," Vilkas's brow furrowed.

"And... y-you don't have any weird... uh... fetishes about blood or biting... do you?"

"Not that I know of," he chuckled, but then, "I don't imagine I could ever find hurting you to be enjoyable, love," he added seriously.

Katie sighed, feeling embarrassed as he wrapped his arms around her waist and she let him pull her into his lap. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and just smiled sheepishly down into his lustful expression.

"I do..." he continued, running his hands up her back and into her hair, "...find I'm quite fond..." he placed an open-mouthed kiss at the base of her neck and Katie shuddered as he ran his tongue along her collarbone, "of this..." he whispered, smirking against her skin.

"I have no complaints about that..." Katie said, leaning her head back so he could kiss more of her neck...

She was ready to let him have more... to let him see and kiss more...

"Vilkas," she breathed a few moments later.

"Hmm?" He hummed. He looked attentively up at her when she pulled back to look into his eyes again.

"I... I think I'd like to go to Riften tomorrow," she whispered nervously.

Vilkas's face broke into a surprised smile before he excitedly pulled her into a passionate kiss.


	14. Riften

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ended up splitting this next chapter in two because I thought it flowed better... enjoy!

On the way to Riften they discussed weddings in their respective worlds...

Weddings in Skyrim were quiet, intimate ceremonies... certainly nothing like the wedding Katie imagined she'd have, but she found she was happy with the idea of simplicity and lack of fuss.

She told Vilkas what weddings were like in her world and described David and Mandy's wedding. Vilkas couldn't fathom dating for years and then spending a year planning a wedding, but he seemed concerned at the idea that she was used to such a different style of wedding, even though Katie insisted she really did like the idea of a sweet simple wedding.

They reached Riften by afternoon and made their arrangements at the temple of Mara. Then they went to the Bee and Barb and to Katie's surprise, Vilkas rented two rooms and paid extra for a bath to be drawn for her.

"Alright, love, go relax and enjoy your bath, I'll meet you for dinner," Vilkas smiled, stopping at the door to her room.

"Where are you off to?" She asked in confusion.

"I've just got a few things to see about," he smirked.

Katie raised her eyebrow suspiciously at him, but before she could say anything else, he leaned in and kissed her.

"I'll see you at dinner," he said again. Katie thought he looked nearly devious as he sauntered away.

Only moments later the Argonian innkeeper dragged in a large tub and began to fill it from an apparently enchanted water jug. Katie watched in fascination as the steaming water just continued to pour from the jug. She'd wondered how people managed to bathe in Skyrim if they didn't have a hot-spring-fed bath chamber like the one at Jorrvaskr... she supposed enchantments like this one made sense, but it still surprised her a little.

Once the bath was full the innkeeper made sure she had plenty of towels, and then left with a polite nod. Katie got her soap out from the pocket she'd packed her toiletries in... it was no modern shampoo and conditioner, but it was one of the nicer soaps Belethor sold and it did alright on her hair and somehow didn't break her face out... and she did like the way it smelled, she hadn't thought about what it's particular scent was before, but she assumed Vilkas was right about the lavender. Then she undressed and settled into the tub.

She'd been thoroughly enjoying camping out with Vilkas, but it was lovely to have a hot bath again instead of that cold stream. It was just like how she used to look forward to that first hot shower after a long camping or backpacking trip. She took her time and soaked, and by the time she was done washing the water was barely warmer than room temperature.

She was a little chilled, but that was quickly solved when she put her necklace back on. Then she got dried off, and as used to her leather armor as she'd gotten, it was nice to put a simple dress back on. She brushed her hair out and decided her stomach suggested it was time for dinner.

Katie normally would have left most of her gear in the enchanted pockets of her armor, but she knew Riften's reputation well enough to not trust the lock on the door to protect her valuables. Instead she spent several minutes finding and organizing all of her belongings in the enchanted pockets of her dress. She chuckled quietly as she did so... Skyrim was great, the dresses had pockets.

She was almost ready to head down stairs to look for Vilkas when there was a light knock at the door. Katie unlocked it to find quite the rare sight; a clean, happy looking Vilkas. He'd clearly also gotten a bath, his warpaint had been scrubbed off and his hair was still slightly damp. He was wearing what looked like the same, casual dark grey shirt he'd worn about a week ago when he'd brought her to raid the bar in Farkas's old room. Katie smiled. She was pretty sure he wouldn't have taken near as long in the bath as she did... she wondered what he'd been up to...

"Ready for dinner love?" He had a smirk like he was up to something.

"Almost," Katie nodded as she finished organizing the ridiculous seeming pile of stuff in her pockets. Once her hands left the pockets the dress hung normally against her as if there were no pockets at all... Katie had gotten used to this enchantment on the pockets of her armor, but it still seemed so strange in a dress.

"You look lovely," Vilkas said in a soft, low tone. Katie looked up in slight surprise to see him looking her over with that intense gaze of his and it made her heart jump.

"You clean up quite nicely yourself," she smiled.

They got an out of the way table downstairs where they could sit side by side on a bench seat, and ordered dinner, along with a couple of Talen-Jei's drinks... Katie decided to try the 'white-gold tower,' and Vilkas went with the 'velvet lechance,' neither of them felt like getting into anything quite as strong as the 'cliff racer' sounded.

From the game Katie had always gotten the impression that Riften was a rundown, shady little town, but so far she was finding the atmosphere surprisingly pleasant. At Vilkas's and Talen-Jei's suggestions she'd ordered the fish, and it was really good; people in Riften certainly knew how to cook fresh fish. Her drink was delightful as well... she was thoroughly enjoying everything about the evening, especially when Vilkas's hand under the table came to rest on her knee, gently tracing circles along her lower thigh with his thumb.

Katie smirked at him and scooted a little closer on the bench. She was about to ask him where he'd been before coming back for his bath, but then movement caught the corner of her eye. She turned to see a redheaded man, that's she could only assume had to be Brynjolf, do a double-take in their direction before approaching the table.

Vilkas tensed almost instantly. "That man was watching me in the market," he whispered almost imperceptibly, glaring at the man, "I don't trust him."

Katie just nodded understandingly as she watched the redhead approach... she was curious and a little excited to see Brynjolf as a real person and not pixels on the screen. He looked to be maybe ten or so years older than she was, wearing the fine clothes he usually wore to tend his stall in the market. As he reached their table he looked her over with a curious and slightly flirtatious smirk.

"What do you want?" Vilkas growled.

"Now there's no need to take that tone with me lad," Brynjolf replied, giving Vilkas a forced pleasant smile that barely hid his disdain. "I've just never seen your friend here... I was curious the nature of your business..."

"Our business is our own, get lost," Vilkas replied angrily.

"Heh..." Brynjolf shook his head, "of all people, lad, you were the last one I expected to betray the guild master..."

Vilkas's brow furrowed in irritated bewilderment at that and Katie tried not to smirk as Brynjolf turned to her.

"You know lass," he said smoothly, and Katie understood how people could fall for his voice alone, "I'm sure I could show you a better time than your present company..."

Vilkas let out a low growl and seemed to be about to jump out of his seat, no doubt to deck the man, but Katie quickly placed a firm hand on his thigh under the table and he restrained himself.

"... and," Brynjolf continued, unaware, "unlike the scoundrel beside you, _I'm_ not a married man..." he winked at Katie before shooting a meaningful glare at Vilkas. Everything Brynjolf did and said was so smooth... Katie almost laughed, and with her hand on Vilkas's leg, she detected him start to calm back down as he must have figured out what was going on.

"Oh that's good," Katie giggled, giving Brynjolf a smile, "you should go try that line on Haelga, it might work better," then, looking back to Vilkas, who was actually calming down now, "imagine that dear, you, a married man," she smiled.

"Aye," Vilkas chuckled as he brought his arm up to drape across her shoulders, "can't wait, love." Then he looked back to Brynjolf with a scowl, "you must be my sister-in-law's second at the guild..."

Brynjolf looked taken aback. "Sister-in-law," he repeated. His confidence deflated and he looked from Katie to Vilkas in confusion... "you're...?"

" _Not_ Farkas," Vilkas replied curtly.

"I see, sorry," Brynjolf said with raised eyebrows, and Katie was reminded of his reaction in the game if you told him you weren't interested in breaking the law. Then, to Katie he added, "well, either way, lass, the name’s Brynjolf, come find me if you lose interest in his ugly mug." He winked and Katie just burst out laughing, which was clearly not the reaction Brynjolf had expected.

"Leave us," Vilkas growled, "and I'm sure my brother doesn't need you minding his business either."

"Heh, suit yourself..." Brynjolf rolled his eyes and sauntered off, clearly trying not to look like he'd just had his ego deflated. He glanced back at them and took a bite from a bread roll in his hand, winking at Katie once more as he did.

"What the... damn him," Vilkas growled, looking back to his plate and finding his roll gone.

"Check your coin purse," Katie grumbled quietly as she reached inconspicuously into her own pocket... everything seemed to still be there, and she was pretty sure he’d never gotten close enough to have gotten to her pockets.

"I’ve still got it," Vilkas grumbled. "When did you figure out he had me confused for Farkas?" Vilkas asked a few moments later.

"Almost as soon as he walked up," Katie smirked, "Summer told me about him."

"I see," Vilkas nodded, "Farkas told me about him too, second in command of the thieves guild... you had me worried for a moment, love," he added with a shake of his head.

"I did?" Katie raised an eyebrow at him in confusion.

"Aye," Vilkas nodded, a hint of his old scowl back on his face, "I caught how interested you seemed when he walked up..."

Katie just blinked in disbelief for a moment... how could such a confident warrior be that insecure? "Vilkas," she began seriously...

"Though I did like you calling me ‘dear,’" he cut in with a smirk.

Ok, he obviously wasn’t _that_ insecure, Katie rolled her eyes. " _Dear_ ," she continued, "I know I took too long to catch on, but I’ve got it now, you’re not getting rid of me." She leaned into him for emphasis and Vilkas smiled.

"I didn’t think I needed to worry," he sighed, wrapping his arm around her a little more tightly, "I was just caught off guard by your reaction when he walked up..." then in a whisper he added, "you seemed _excited_."

"Sorry," Katie replied a little sheepishly, "I wasn’t interested, just curious. I recognized him from Summer's description, supposedly he’s one of the best thieves in Skyrim..." she explained. "He’s got nothing on the Master At Arms of the Companions," she added with a smirk.

"Good," Vilkas nodded again, then a smile spread across his face, "the look on his face when you laughed at him was pretty good," he chuckled and kissed the side of Katie’s head. "Did you get the impression he was a little bitter at my brother?" Vilkas asked a moment later.

"Yeah," Katie nodded, "Summer also told me he got a bit flirty with her... she said she was prepared to shout him away from her on a couple of occasions when he was drunk and she was afraid he might try to make a move on her."

"Glad to know Farkas never had to worry," Vilkas sighed.

"Yeah," Katie agreed, "just like you don't." She leaned over and kissed his cheek, and Vilkas smiled happily at that and placed another kiss to the side of her head.


	15. Marriage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a note to avoid possible confusion: this chapter and the one before it were posted at the same time.  
> Enjoy!

They finished dinner and Vilkas led her back to his room, smirking like he was up to something again.

"Alright, see what you think, love," he smiled as he opened the door and gestured to something that was spread across the bed.

Katie stepped in, confused at first, then simply surprised... there, laid out neatly on the bed, was a new dress... it was simple cotton, mostly white, hemmed with blue and purple, and had a leather corset that was dyed a shade of blue reminded Katie of denim. It was long-sleeved with a wide neckline where the purple and blue stitching turned into embroidered, swirled patterns.

"I know it's not the fancy dress you would have had in your world," Vilkas began, softly stepping in behind her, "and it's not the stuff of nobility, but..."

"I love it..." Katie breathed, still staring at the dress in shock... it wasn't all that different from a dress she'd probably see a number of the women around Whiterun wearing, but that just meant she'd be able to wear it again for special occasions. Nords usually just got married in whatever they happened to be wearing, so Katie couldn't believe that he'd gone out and gotten her a white dress. "Thank you," she turned and threw her arms around his shoulders and hugged him excitedly. He chuckled at her enthusiasm and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I'm sure it will still be very different from your world, but I thought we could at least dress in something little more special than our everyday armor..."

"Thank you," Katie said again squeezing him a little tighter.

Vilkas reluctantly but insistently sent her back to her room for the night, and the next morning she excitedly got into her new dress. The dress was designed to be a little loose fitting, and the corset was adjustable so it fit perfectly. She brushed her hair out and was just lamenting the fact that she didn't have any makeup, when there was a light knock on her door. She opened it excitedly to find Vilkas... her breath caught in her throat... he was dressed in a suit that reminded Katie of the party clothes Delphine gave the Dragonborn in game... the undershirt was a little more simple; it was a blue-grey, hemmed with simple dark thread that matched the overcoat. The leather overcoat was a dark charcoal color that reminded her of the color of the warpaint he usually wore. It definitely suited him... he looked good.

He was looking her over with a smirk on his face and his hands behind his back.

"I knew those colors would suit you," he said with an almost smug smile, "you look beautiful, my love."

Katie felt her cheeks flush. "Apparently you know what colors suit you too," she smiled, "you look..." she trailed off trying to find the word.

"Sexy?" Vilkas supplied with a smirk that was something between teasing and hopeful.

"I was going to say very handsome," Katie giggled, "but yes, that too."

Vilkas grinned and took a step into the room, "I'm glad you think so, love."

Katie cocked her eyebrow at him curiously as she noticed he still had his hands behind his back. Vilkas chuckled and brought one hand from behind his back, holding a single dragon tongue flower. Katie felt her heart leap in happy surprise.

"You said weddings in your world had flowers," Vilkas smirked before reaching up to tuck the flower behind her ear, "so I thought you deserved some flowers..." he smiled as he pulled his other hand from behind his back to reveal a small bouquet of lavender, blue mountain flowers, and dragons tongue. Katie took the bouquet in mild shock... it was small, only a few of each flower, but it had clearly been put together with great care, with the stems held together with a wrapped leather strip. "I might have had the jeweler and some of the ladies in the market help me arrange them," he admitted with a sheepish chuckle as Katie admired the bouquet. Katie just giggled at that thought, imagining Vilkas asking Madesi, or the Dunmer woman, or the armor merchant for help arranging flowers.

"Thank you," she smiled, stepping forward to give him a hug.

Vilkas wrapped her in a tight embrace for a moment, then, "you like them then?" he asked hopefully, pulling back to see her face.

"I do," Katie smiled giddily, "they're perfect... you're perfect, I love you."

"And I love you," Vilkas grinned and leaned down to kiss her. Katie kissed him back excitedly. "Let's go get married, love," Vilkas smiled a moment later.

They walked to the temple hand-in-hand, and several heads turned as they they passed. Madesi offered his congratulations as they passed his stall. Grelka told Katie what a lucky woman she was, and Katie assured her she knew.

The wedding ceremony was short and sweet, and exactly what Katie had expected from the video game. Unlike the game, instead of everyone immediately wandering off and just discussing with her new spouse where they should live, Vilkas pulled her into a tight embrace and a passionate kiss before scooping her into his arms and walking proudly out of the temple with her.

He carried her all the way back to the Bee and Barb, and Katie blushed profusely as several people cheered or whistled as they passed. To Katie's surprise, Vilkas had apparently already arranged for a new room for them. It was the nicest room one could rent at the Bee and Barb... the bed looked more like one Katie would expect to find in a Jarl's bedroom than at an inn.

Katie wrapped her arms around Vilkas's neck as he shifted to holding her with one arm so he could lock their door. He pressed her against the door for stability as he kissed her, and Katie kissed him back just has excitedly.

Then, he wrapped her back in both arms and carried her toward the bed.

"Now..." Vilkas grinned as he finally set her on her feet beside the bed, "my favorite thing about this dress..." he said in a low voice that sent shivers down Katie's spine as his hands began to deftly undo the lacings of her corset, "is I know exactly how to take it off of you..."


	16. Back Home

Their first time was what Katie could best describe as awkward, passionate bliss. After that things only got better. It took several tries, but Katie figured out exactly how to make Vilkas come nearly completely undone, and in response he could make her almost literally see stars. It was an amazing way to spend a couple days in Riften... figuring out and discovering this new level of intimacy.

When they set back out for Whiterun, they took the long, leisurely way. Katie discovered Vilkas was even more turned on by chasing her through the woods and then pinning her down once she let him catch her.  
Even though he'd started off so gentle with her, Katie wasn't remotely surprised to discover that he could be quite rough... she was surprised that she actually liked that.

Actually, he was yet to do anything she didn't like, it was more that there were just some things she liked better. He never bit her or tried anything violent, but the way he would sometimes growl as he kissed along her neck got her adrenaline going, which usually turned him on more.

To put it mildly, it was a fun trip.

Katie was a little disappointed when they got back to Whiterun where privacy would a little more difficult to come by...

Once they returned the horse to the stable and paid for the extra time they'd been gone, they headed into the gates and up the road toward home.

To their surprise, the whole mead hall erupted in cheers when they got back to Jorrvaskr. Summer and Farkas had been waiting for them... apparently they'd heard from Brynjolf about their encounter, and hadn't taken the long way back to Whiterun.

Farkas nearly hug-tackled them both; Summer somehow still found room to throw her arms around Katie; Aela whistled loudly; Skjor laughed and raised a mug; and Ria squealed and clapped, yelling something like "I knew it!" At all the commotion, Athis, Torvar, and Njada came in from outside and more cheers and congratulations were exclaimed.

Since Farkas and Summer had gotten there before them, Tilma had a little more warning this time, and had prepared a proper feast for them. The Companions celebrated them just as enthusiastically as they had Farkas and Summer a couple of weeks ago. Katie was a little overwhelmed at being the center of attention...

"So Katie," Summer began over the din of conversation at dinner, "we knew Vilkas was sweet on you, when did you start falling for him?"

"Wait, you knew too?" Katie asked looking to Summer in surprise. Farkas burst out laughing.

"I was the first to know!" Farkas declared with a proud grin.

"How do you figure, icebrain?" Aela cut in with a laugh, "we all had it figured out within a week of her joining us!"

"A week?" Katie repeated in shock.

"He was pretty obvious," Skjor laughed.

Vilkas groaned and hid his face in his hand.

Farkas just laughed harder. "I knew before we left for the Greybeards! You shoulda heard him while you two were in Dragonsreach," Farkas grinned over at Katie and Vilkas sighed, sounding embarrassed. " _Aye brother, I saw the mage, but did you see that archer?_ " Farkas did his best impression of Vilkas, " _she stared down that dragon like it was nothing! She was the one who downed the beast. Do you think she'd join us?_ And on and on and on he went," Farkas laughed.

"I knew you were sweet on the Dragonborn from the same conversation," Vilkas shot back, and then in his best impression of Farkas, " _did you see her brother? The Dragonborn_... and then, _can you believe the Dragonborn is a such a pretty woman? How does so much power fit in that little_..." Vilkas paused and still clearly mimicking Farkas, gestured with his hands as if to indicate a very curvy figure.

Farkas threw a loaf of bread that hit Vilkas square in the face and the whole mead hall, Vilkas and Farkas included, burst into laughter.

"Ok, so I was more obvious than you," Farkas admitted, "I still knew you were smitten this whole time too!"

"Aye, I'll give you that," Vilkas smirked, and reached down to rest a hand on Katie's thigh under the table, "I was and have been since," he smirked. Katie just giggled.

"Alright, Katie, don't you dodge my question," Summer laughed, "when did you start falling for Vilkas?"

"Well..." Katie said thoughtfully, smiling at Vilkas. Several eyes around the mead hall turned toward her, but she tried to just focus on Vilkas and think...

She knew when she'd realized she was in love, but that realization had hit her like a truck... when had it started...?

It was hard to say... she thought back to the way her heart had jumped when she realized he'd gotten her a birthday gift... no, it had started much earlier than that... she thought back to warm feeling she'd gotten in her chest when he'd spoken for her at her initiation... the way he'd made her heart race during her trial... the way he'd taken care of her on her trial... the way she wasn't afraid to smart off or tease him...

"I think it started on my trial... maybe a bit before that..." she answered finally.

"Really," Vilkas smirked, looking a little surprised.

"Probably a little before that," she admitted.

"And here I thought a dragon was easier to deal with than me..." Vilkas chuckled.

"I mean if we're talking about a fight to the death it still is," Katie retorted.

Vilkas and several others around the hall laughed at that.

"Hey, speaking of dragons," Farkas began once the laughter died back down.

"Farkas, not now," Summer hissed urgently.

"Why not?" Farkas shrugged, "they're back now." He gestured to Vilkas and Katie, and Summer facepalmed.

"We're celebrating," Summer complained.

"And? Trappin' a dragon 's not your idea of fun?" Farkas smirked.

"Alright, brother," Vilkas grumbled suspiciously, "what are you upsetting your wife about?"

"We're gonna go trap a dragon at Dragonsreach, just like the stories," Farkas began with a grin, "we had to get the whole war to stop just so we could talk the Jarl into it."

"Wait, the war is stopped?" Vilkas asked in surprise.

"Where've you been?" Torvar asked in disbelief.

"Uh... _distracted_..." Vilkas replied bluntly. That got more laughs out of several people around the table, and Katie blushed a little.

"It's just a temporary peace treaty," Summer elaborated, "we got them to agree to stop fighting so we can handle the dragon problem."

"So you want some extra muscle for trapping a dragon?" Katie asked hopefully.

"That is why we were waiting for you," Summer smiled.


	17. Future Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An intimate conversation about the future...  
> Highly suggestive, but not explicit.

The next morning found Katie slightly hungover, but otherwise in the same manner she'd become accustomed to waking up in... naked, except for her enchanted necklace, with Vilkas's body pressed against hers and his arms around her. She'd been woken by Vilkas pressing gentle kisses to her face, and slowly running his hand across her body. She groaned and rolled over to tuck her face against his chest. Vilkas chuckled and kissed her neck as he ran his hand down to her bottom and pulled her closer. Waking up only a little more, Katie smiled lazily and raised her leg to drape across his hip... but instead of continuing as she'd expected him to, Vilkas sighed and lifted his head, looking at her thoughtfully.

"Love..." Vilkas began in a quiet but serious tone, "I have a bit of an important question..."

"Hmm?" Katie sleepily raised her eyebrow at him in confusion.

"What are your thoughts on having children?"

Katie sat up suddenly, completely awake with several thoughts running through her mind at once... she had always dreamed of having her own children one day, and she loved her niece and nephew... but they'd literally only been married a week... she wasn't sure she was ready to be pregnant so quickly...

Then it suddenly occurred to her that the thought of pregnancy and childbirth in Skyrim without the help of modern medicine was absolutely terrifying...

"Why?" She asked with a look of mild panic on her face.

"You're not pregnant," Vilkas said quickly, and Katie couldn't help but notice his eyes looked a little sad at her reaction, but she still sighed in relief... which made Vilkas look clearly more troubled... Katie realized he looked disappointed...

"I... I want kids," she clarified quickly, "just not _right_ now... I... I want a little more time for just the two of us first."

Vilkas gave her a relieved looking smile at that.

"W-why are you asking _now_?" Katie asked again shifting back to sit more comfortably beside him, leaning against the headboard.

Vilkas rolled over, wrapped his arms around her hips, rested his head against her upper thigh, took a deep breath, and sighed. His breath falling across her skin gave her goosebumps that she tried to ignore...

"I mentioned that I can smell the way your body cycles..." he whispered, and Katie felt him smirk, "I know when you can and can't become pregnant..." he said a little proudly, “I’m asking now, because that’s a decision we should make together...”

Katie just blinked for a moment as she processed that information... the fact that he could detect those kinds of things still struck her as weird... but honestly, she realized, it was useful...

"So... you’re saying I could get pregnant now..." Katie said trying to think back to her last period... it did seem to fit timing wise...

Vilkas turned his head to look up at her.

"Your fertile time will begin tomorrow..." he nodded seriously, "so if you want more time for the two of us, it'd be best to not have my seed in here for the next few days..." he continued, running his hand across her lower abdomen.

"A-Alright," Katie nodded, trying not to get too distracted by the fact he was now looking up at her with his chin resting between her thighs... "and, what are _your_ thoughts on having children?" She asked instead, even though she had a pretty good guess from his reaction a moment ago...

Vilkas smiled. "I've tried not to think about it much over the years,” he admitted with a sigh, “the beast blood comes with an instinct to want to have a mate and pass on my line, so I’ve always tried to ignore those feelings... but now that I have you, love," he grinned, "I would love to help you raise our family..." he leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss just below her bellybutton. His short beard tickled and Katie giggled... Vilkas hugged her tighter. "I want children... at least two of them...” he almost growled against her stomach and Katie giggled and squirmed a little as he tickled her more... “We can have our own homestead outside of Whiterun... somewhere with enough space and fresh air, for the children to run and play... but still close enough to come back to Jorrvaskr if we want...”

Katie hummed approvingly at that thought... she did know how to deal with a homestead... it would be a lot of work, but it did sound nice...

“I do like the idea of having more time for just the two of us first if that’s what you want though," Vilkas added laying comfortably back against her thighs. Katie nodded, still thinking.

“Probably be best to get the homestead going before you make me a useless, exhausted pregnant woman,” Katie smirked, remembering how Mandy had been nearly bedridden her last trimester.

“Aye,” Vilkas chuckled, “I suppose that would probably be wise, love.”

Then another thought occurred to Katie. “Is... is pregnancy and childbirth usually dangerous in Skyrim?" She asked nervously.

"I've heard it can be without a trained healer,” Vilkas said with a slight shrug, “but not usually, Nords are hardy people.”

"I'm not a Nord, remember?"

"Aye, but you're easily as strong as one," Vilkas smirked. Then he looked up at her again and his smirk softened into a tender smile. "I will make sure you have a proper healer and every comfort I can provide you when that time comes though, my love."

“Alright,” Katie sighed, that did make her feel better... she leaned back against the bed. “I do like the idea of two...” she smiled as he looked up at her.

“ _At least_ two, love,” Vilkas grinned wolfishly at her. Then he leaned forward with a teasing smirk and began placing tickling kisses along one of her hips, across her lower stomach, then to her other hip.

Katie squirmed a little more, “yes, we can start with that idea and then see what we can handle,” she giggled. “Actually,” she added, “we’ll start with the first one and see how that goes...”

“Alright love,” Vilkas sighed, he sounded disappointed, but he grinned, telling her he wasn’t really.

Katie rolled her eyes at him and smiled. She reached down and began to stroke his hair almost absentmindedly as her mind wandered. Vilkas hummed contentedly, and Katie began imagining Vilkas as a father... tenderly rocking a baby... cringing as he changed a diaper... grinning proudly as their child took his or her first steps...

Then she imagined him playing with older children, chasing them around the streets of Whiterun, letting them catch him in a game of tag... having play-fights with wooden swords... eventually teaching them to use real swords...

She was pulled from her daydream several moments later when Vilkas took another deep breath and groaned.

"Your scent is so enticing when you're fertile..." he grumbled, "you make me crazy with how much I want you..."

His near growl against her skin made her shudder and she smirked down at him and sighed. “Well dear...” she said with a sad but teasing smile, “unless you want to spend the next nine months building a homestead by yourself... we should probably get up and get dressed.”

Vilkas groaned and rolled off of her. “We could turn Farkas’s old room into a baby’s room,” he suggested with a grumble.

“Yes, because a mead hall full of warriors is a great place to have a baby that wakes up crying at all hours of the night,” Katie retorted as she climbed out of bed.

Vilkas groaned again and just sat on the edge of the bed watching for a moment as she began to collect her clothes and armor.

“Hold on love,” he stopped her before she could begin dressing, “it’s still early... no one will be up at Dragonsreach for a few hours yet...” he took hold of her wrist and pulled her back toward the bed. Katie raised a skeptical eyebrow at him as she dropped her underwear and breast-band as his hands went back to her hips. “And,” he smirked, “there are several things I can do with you for now that don’t end with my seed in your womb...”

Katie took a shuddered breath as kissed her hip again and then began trailing kisses lower. “O-ok... I’m not complaining...” Katie breathed as Vilkas pulled her back into bed.


	18. Waking Up

The look on Farkas's face when Summer flew off to Sovengarde without him reminded Katie of a kicked puppy... startled, afraid, and suddenly lost. It was such a relief the following day when they all heard the commotion coming from the top of the Throat of the World. Moments later Odahviing had flown down to flap over the city calling out, "Drem! Peace! Come quickly Grohiik, your Dovahkiin has returned! Alduin has fallen!"

Farkas ran out to meet the dragon at that, and Odahviing carried him up to the mountain top to meet her.

Vilkas had been entirely startled and uncomfortable with Farkas being carried away by a dragon, and yelled several heartfelt expletives after him. Meanwhile Katie had just smiled and watched him go thinking, 'so that's how he always got up there to meet me.'

Hours later he came triumphantly back with Summer, and the Companions celebrated again. Tilma complained they were going to run out of mead if they kept having things to celebrate so often, and jokingly forbade anyone else from getting married or saving the world for at least a month.

  
  


Life began to return to normal after that... Summer and Farkas took a couple of weeks to relax, but then they kept traveling... since the Dragonborn was supposed to be an 'end to the evil of all Skyrim's foes' there were still several things they needed to do, and her position in the Thieves’ Guild kept them rather busy.

Katie took several jobs for the Companions while she and Vilkas began to save up for the homestead they hoped to build. She preferred the jobs that involved taking out nuisance animals instead of any that involved killing people, and she began to earn a bit of a name for herself. Vilkas had laughed at her stunned reaction the first time someone had recognized her as "the Companions' Eagle-eyes."

Vilkas went with her for most jobs. It was fun, and certainly made nights in tents or at inns much more enjoyable.

And so the weeks passed.

Around the end of Sun's Dusk, Summer and Farkas suddenly began to work on building their own homestead between Falkreath and Riverwood. Katie had forgotten that Summer had mentioned wanting to do that... she did vaguely remember building the small house of the Lakeview Manor being one of the last things she'd done in game... concepts of this having been a video game we're getting more and more difficult to recall though.

A few more weeks after that, the Companions were stocking up on food and drink, preparing for the festivities that would come with the end of Evening Star. The weather was quite cold by then, but with her enchanted necklace, Katie only needed an additional cloak to be plenty comfortable. She was excited to experience the festivals that she’d never really seen in the game mechanics.

One afternoon, Katie and Vilkas were off on another hunt, trying to bring in another deer for the feasts, when they happened upon a log cabin in the woods that looked out of place... it wasn't Nordic in design... the stones of its stone chimney didn’t match is surroundings, and it had a wood shingled roof instead of thatch... it almost looked like... Katie's breath caught in her throat as she recognized the layout of the logs, spackled with mud— it was her old frontier house...Vilkas cocked his head in confusion at it and began to approach curiously, but Katie couldn’t move. She suddenly felt _wrong_...

Katie tried reaching out for Vilkas but her feet wouldn’t move. She lost her balance and nearly fell over. She suddenly felt sick, like she'd had too much to drink... the world wobbled around her and vertigo set in. She heard Vilkas call her name in alarm, but he sounded far away.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no..." Katie pleaded... she flailed about, trying to grab hold of something as she felt like she was falling. Then everything went black and she felt the world literally falling away from her... but then a firm, calloused hand caught hers just before everything vanished.

The next thing Katie knew, she was on the floor of that log cabin. She distinctly recognized her bedroom in the frontier house in the Colorado mountains... she was sitting as if she'd just fallen out of the bed.

"No..." she whispered, looking in shock around the small dusty room, “no, please no...” She felt sick to her stomach and the tears began to well in her eyes as she realized the dream was over...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, short chapter, and I’m a jerk. Forgive me.


	19. Introduction

Daylight was coming in from the main room, but there was a cool draft with it that told Katie it wasn’t still summer... a fire was going in the fireplace... but before Katie could wonder about the fire, the bed behind her creaked and Katie jumped and spun around at the sound of another person so close to her.

"Ysmir’s beard, I'm going to be sick..." Vilkas groaned, rolling over slowly. "What in Oblivion was that?"

Katie just stared back at him in shock as she tried to blink back the tears that had begun to form in her eyes... Vilkas was there... slowly sitting up on top of her old, thick, blue sleeping bag... still wearing his armor with his great sword on his back... he rubbed his temples with a grimace before looking around the room as well.

"Are you alright love?" He asked his eyes meeting hers in concern.

"Y-you came with me..." Katie whispered in disbelief.

"Aye," Vilkas sighed, "it would seem Lady Mara answered my frantic prayer as you were disappearing..." he reached out and took her hand gently. "I tried catching you, but you passed right through my arms... until our wedding rings touched and I suddenly had something solid to hold onto... but then I fell right along with you..." he looked intently for a moment at their wedding bands, still holding her hand gently before Katie got up and threw her arms around him. Vilkas didn't hesitate to pull her into a tight hug.

Katie suddenly realized she still had her weapons and armor too... everything felt so strange... she was back in her own world, with Skyrim weapons and armor... but at least she still had Vilkas... she wasn't doomed to be alone...

"I'm so glad you're still with me," she sighed.

"Me too love," Vilkas smiled, "now you can show me your world."

"I guess I can," Katie smiled too.

Vilkas's smile was suddenly replaced by a serious scowl as his eyes snapped to the doorway. "We're not alone," he growled quietly. Katie suddenly remembered noticing there was a fire in the fireplace and spun back to face the door. Then she heard the front door close and someone moving about in the main room. Vilkas got to his feet beside her looking ready for a fight, but then...

"Katie? Is that you?" David's voice called excitedly from the other room. Vilkas relaxed as he saw the surprised smile on Katie's face.

"Dave?" Katie hurried to the doorway...

Sure enough, her brother had just come back inside with more firewood. He was wearing hisheavy green winter coat and looked Katie over with a shocked, relieved smile.

"I knew you'd make it back!" He exclaimed. Dropping the firewood, he ran to give her a hug.

"Wait, what?" Katie returned the hug in confusion, "you knew? Wait, what are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you," David replied pulling back to look at her. "Mandy and the kids are up at the lodge, Mom and Dad'll be back out next week, and... wow... that's really the Skyrim leather armor... and you've got a _real_ sword..." he changed topics mid-sentence and just marveled at her, "you're the first one we've heard of surviving Skyrim that long, what've you been doing?"

"I... I'm a Companion... wait, what are you talking about? Why is everyone out here?"

"You made it into the _Companions_?" David asked in disbelief.

"Yes, I did, but... damn it David, what's going on?!" Katie was so confused.

"Oh the world's gone to shit," David shook his head, "no one knows why, or at least no one will say why... personally I think 2020 is just so fucked up that reality is falling apart. Anyway, a lot of people disappeared all at once... a lot of them have been slowly turning up dead, but several of us came back having been living in the last video game we played, and a lot of people still haven't come back."

"What?" Katie furrowed her brow... she wasn't the only one...

"Everything is 'under investigation,' and no one has answers, all the world governments are blaming each other, no one's admitting where all these people really went... the ones that do insist they've been in a video game are either laughed at or going in for psychiatric help..." David explained. "Thank God the last thing Mandy and I did was challenge each other to a few rounds of Beat Saber," he continued, "we were only gone a few hours, and we were back before the kids even woke up."

"Holy shit..." Katie breathed in disbelief.

"With you being one of the disappeared, me and Mandy figured you had to be in Skyrim, so with what a mess the world's in, we've all figured you probably had the right idea by coming out here to go off grid, so that's been what we've been working toward for the last few months," David explained, "and it meant someone would be here if you did come back... some people have come back in pretty rough shape, so we wanted to make sure someone was here."

"Holy shit..." Katie breathed again, shaking her head.

"Has anyone else brought someone back with them?" Vilkas asked curiously, stepping up behind Katie and into view for the first time.

"What the fuck?" David jumped at least three feet, tripped on one of the sticks he'd dropped and landed on his butt on the floor. "You... he... that's really...? What the fuck!" David yelled looking from Katie to Vilkas and back again.

"Umm... meet your brother-in-law..." Katie said sheepishly, gesturing back to Vilkas.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me..." David deadpanned.

"Pleasure to meet you too," Vilkas said with a raised eyebrow.

"You got _married_..." David said staring back at Katie in disbelief, "you've known him, what, a grand total of _five months_?"

"Umm... yeah," Katie nodded, "that's kinda how things work in Skyrim..."

" _You're not from Skyrim_ ," David replied in exasperation.

"Aye, she made me wait a week after I proposed before we went to the temple," Vilkas cut in.

David facepalmed.

"Look Dave," Katie sighed, "I woke up in Skyrim and everything was _real_. After the first week I gave up on the notion that I was having a fever dream and just figured out how to live, ok? I helped the Dragonborn kill dragons, then I went to the Companions, and just adjusted to their way of life. Yes, I fell in love and got married. Things aren’t like they are here; you get to know people really quickly when you work, train, and fight beside them everyday. Honestly, aside from missing you and the rest of the family, I liked it better there."

David sighed and rubbed his forehead, "you would," he grumbled, "I guess the important part is now you're back and you've got... wait, you weren't the Dragonborn?" He changed topics mid-sentence again and looked up in sudden confusion.

"Nope," Katie shook her head, then, with an uncomfortable glance back at Vilkas, "the last character I made was the Dragonborn." She was regretting not having at least attempted to explain the concept of a video game to Vilkas, but he wasn’t seeming too phased...

"So you survived in Skyrim all these months, and you didn't even have the Dragonborn's powers?" David said, looking surprised.

“Don’t look that surprised,” Katie grumbled, “I can shoot...”

"Aye, she's a respected member of the Companions and a force to be reckoned with," Vilkas nodded, with a bit of a proud smirk.

"You're not a..." David suddenly looked at Katie in concern.

"No," Katie said quickly. Vilkas raised an eyebrow at both of them.

"Is he?" David asked Katie, gesturing to Vilkas.

"Aye, I'm a Circle member," Vilkas replied a little darkly, "my wife is not..."

Katie just nodded, and David nodded as well, obviously a bit uncomfortable. Katie was impressed at how quickly Vilkas was catching on and inserting himself in the conversation...

"Kodlak's the harbinger, and Skjor is next in line," Katie added, knowing David would understand what that meant.

"Ok..." David shook his head.

"Listen," Vilkas spoke up in a firm voice, as he stepped forward and took Katie’s hand again, "I understand none of this is normal by your standards, it’s not by mine either, but I love my wife, and I'll not let her go for anything in my world or yours,” Vilkas glanced the Katie with a smile before looking back to David, “and, bizarre as all of this is, I am glad for the opportunity to meet you and see the world my love came from.”

David just looked at Vilkas in mild surprise for a moment. "Ok... right," he nodded. He looked from Vilkas to Katie and back again, "sorry," he sighed as he got to his feet, "sorry, I guess I started that off on the wrong foot..." he straightened and brushed himself off before stepping forward and extending his hand to Vilkas. "I'm David, it's nice to meet you."

"Vilkas, and likewise," Vilkas smiled, shaking David's hand.

Then David looked back to Katie, "you know Mom and Dad are going to flip shit."


	20. Here or There

David reluctantly let Katie and Vilkas have some time alone to talk and collect themselves while he got on the radio and called to let Mandy know Katie was back.

"So... how do you like my brother?" Katie sighed with a slight grimace.

Vilkas chuckled, "he seems like a good man, a bit protective of you, but so am I..." Vilkas smiled. "I think he and I will get along fine once he realizes I'm not bad for you," he smirked, but then his brow furrowed, "I take it he knows about the Circle's curse..." Vilkas added with a slightly irritated raised eyebrow.

"Yeah..." Katie sighed, "that's uh... pretty common knowledge amongst uh... some people here..." Katie tried to think how to explain...

"Right..." Vilkas nodded, "what's a... video game?"

"Oh boy..." Katie sighed, "it's like... an interactive story that you can watch... and... there's a thousand different ones... one of them is about Skyrim, which is how anyone in my world knows about Skyrim, it's almost like a fantasy story."

"Which is how you always knew how to tell Summer what to expect," Vilkas nodded.

"Exactly," Katie nodded, "because I played the video game, so I know the story..."

"I... see..." Vilkas said slowly, looking lost in thought... "how does one _watch_ a story?" He asked in confusion.

"It's..." Katie trailed off trying think of an explanation... "have you ever seen a play? Like a performance with actors and things?"

"No, but I've heard of them," Vilkas shook his head.

"Ok, well it's... you know what, I'm just going to have to show you when we get back to civilization," she shook her head.

"Alright," Vilkas sighed, with his brow still furrowed. He looked lost in thought again...

Katie stepped closer and took his hand again. "Are you ok, dear?" She asked quietly.

Vilkas blinked and looked down into her eyes. His thoughtful scowl shifted briefly into a warm smile as his eyes met hers.

"Aye, love," he nodded, "it's just," his scowl returned, "the air here feels strange... I feel... _off_..."

Katie cocked her eyebrow at him in concern, "off how?"

"I'm not sure," Vilkas shook his head, "like my beast blood is confused... subdued..."

"Let's go outside, it is pretty stuffy in here," Katie suggested. Vilkas just nodded and let Katie lead him out the front door.

They were immediately hit by the crisp, cold, autumn air, and the sight of the mountains around them glittering gold from the large stands of aspens that interspersed the evergreens.

"By Ysmir..." Vilkas breathed looking up at the mountain sides. Katie smiled as Vilkas looked in awe at the familiar sight from her childhood. It had always been one of her favorite things about coming up here.  
Katie's attention was drawn briefly to the garden... she'd put in so much effort to plant it before she'd been dragged out of bed into Skyrim, it was nice to see that someone had maintained and harvested it...

Then she noticed Vilkas close his eyes and just breath deeply for a few moments.

"So many... different scents here..." he said quietly... "I feel... disconnected..." Vilkas suddenly looked down to his hand with a look of concentration that Katie had never seen, and black smoke began to swirl around his hand as his fingernails began to grow into long, sharp claws. Vilkas sighed and dropped his hand, the effect and claws vanished almost immediately. "I'm still a beast, but my mind is clearer..." he said in confusion, "it's as if... I'm out of Hircine's reach here..." he suddenly smiled at that thought. "This is..." he looked back to the mountains with a grin and took another deep breath, "this is strange..." he chuckled, "but I think I could get used to it, love," he smiled back down at her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"I'm glad," she sighed, leaning against him. "I will see if we can go back but, I'm still not sure how I went in the first place."

Vilkas nodded, "here or there love," he shrugged, "as long as I have you."

"Sounds good to me, my dear," Katie smiled and hugged him.

Vilkas kissed the top of her head and then turned to look over his shoulder back toward the road. Moments later Katie heard David walking back around the side of the house.

"You're gonna get pay back for all those years Mandy and I were 'disgustingly cuddly' in front of you, aren't you?" David grumbled looking up at them.

Katie smirked, "I mean that wasn't the goal, but now that you mention it..." she leaned forward and kissed Vilkas's cheek. Vilkas just chuckled understandingly and kept his arm firmly around her waist.

"I had this coming..." David groaned. "Anyway, we should head to the lodge for lunch, Mandy's offered to drive into town and pick up dinner, I imagine there are a few modern amenities and-or foods you've missed?"

Katie's eyes suddenly went wide... she'd spent so much time trying not to think about the things she'd missed... one thing came to mind immediately... followed by several others...

"Holy shit, Dave, _chocolate_. I need chocolate," she said excitedly, "and coffee, and ice cream, and..." Katie trailed off thinking... she'd been so busy just surviving and adapting, she hadn't given much thought to all the foods she didn't have...

David laughed and Vilkas raised his eyebrows at her in confusion. Katie grinned... now that she thought about it, showing Vilkas the modern world could be fun... she took Vilkas's hand and began leading him toward the trail back to the lodge.

"I have so many things I've got to show you," she smiled, "foods you've never heard of, technology you can't imagine..."

"Alright, love," Vilkas was smirking curiously now as David turned and began to lead them up the trail.

"First thing is probably gonna be peanut butter and jelly," David called over his shoulder, "we'll get more adventurous with dinner."

"I haven't had peanut butter in months, I'm not going to complain," Katie shook her head.

"Aye, this _is_ going to be interesting..." Vilkas nodded, "what's peanut butter?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here ends part 1 of this adventure. I have several ideas for part 2 bouncing around in my head. Unfortunately it may be a little while before that gets going, now that my kids are home again from “camp grandma” having two active stories is a bit much. But rest assured, I do have bizarre ideas for moving forward...  
> That all being said, is anyone interested in Vilkas’s perspective on Katie’s piece of our world?


End file.
